JJ Redick Reveals Game Lakers' Austin Reaves May Return

One hot topic of discussion during the Los Angeles Lakers' eight-game road trip, aside from all the speculation heading toward the NBA trade deadline and the drama surrounding LeBron James and Jeanie Buss, has been the return of rising star Austin Reaves to the floor.

Reaves hasn't played a game since suffering a calf strain during the Christmas Day loss to the Houston Rockets. He has seemingly been progressing well, with head coach JJ Redick frequently updating the media about the status of the 27-year-old guard.

JJ Redick Reveals Austin Reaves Will Return Very Soon

Ahead of Saturday's game on the road against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center, Redick spoke to the media and let it be known that Reaves could return as early as the matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena on Jan. 28, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

JJ Redick says until Austin Reaves is back, which could occur as soon as Cleveland, the Lakers are going to stay with its starting lineup of LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 25, 2026

"JJ Redick says until Austin Reaves is back, which could occur as soon as Cleveland, the Lakers are going to stay with its starting lineup of LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart."

With the Lakers struggling as of late, the return of Reaves should give the team a considerable boost, especially in the scoring department, as he can help shoulder the load alongside Luka Doncic and LeBron James.

After Saturday's showdown with Cooper Flagg and the Mavericks, the Lakers will continue their road trip by traveling to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. Los Angeles has five games left on the road before returning to Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 5.

Doncic and company will face the Bulls, followed by the Cavaliers, potentially with Reaves available to play. Then they'll finish it out in the final stretch of this challenging road trip with matchups against the Washington Wizards, New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets.

Following the come-from-behind win over Doncic's former team in Dallas, the Lakers have won three of their last four games while showing some resiliency despite all the noise surrounding the storied franchise at the moment. As long as Reaves is 100 percent healthy or close to it, he'll certainly help this team stay on the right track as they try to keep on pace with the elite teams in the Western Conference, namely the Rockets, Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City.

Reaves is having the best year of his professional career, averaging career-high numbers in points (26.6), rebounds (5.2) and assists (6.3) per game.