Jay Williams roasts Austin Reaves’ defense – ‘Targeted every damn possession’

The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a 115-110 Game 4 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, officially ending the club’s playoff run after being swept in the second round. During Tuesday morning’s episode of “First Take” on ESPN, analyst Jay Williams broke down some of the next steps for L.A. and roasted Austin Reaves in the process.

Williams was ultimately making the claim that Luka Doncic should want LeBron James to return next season over Austin Reaves. The popular analyst called out Reaves for his lack of defensive skills, making him a liability on that end of the court during the series against the Thunder.

“Just let me pose this, I want LeBron before I want Austin Reaves back,” said Williams… “You have to build and construct a team around Luka for the future of this [team]… I saw this multiple times throughout this series because [Reaves] has had a couple of good games offensively. But do you know when you watch games and you start breaking this stuff down, [Reaves] gets targeted every damn possession.

“[Ajay] Mitchell was going at him. Every possession,” continued Williams. “And if you think about bringing Luka back on the court, Luka’s prolific offensively. So prolific that it makes you gloss over what he does defensively… You’re going to invest heavy dollars into two players that are good offensively, but then you have to look over them both defensively.”

"I want LeBron back before I want Austin Reaves back. … His game may have changed, but his leadership never changed."

—@RealJayWilliams on who the Lakers should prioritize this offseason pic.twitter.com/lYXYGxTQSP

— First Take (@FirstTake) May 12, 2026

Austin Reaves, who is 27 years old, came back from a Grade 2 left oblique strain in an attempt to help the Lakers’ chances in the playoffs. As Williams pointed out, the five-year veteran was amazing on the offensive end of the floor throughout the five total games he played in the postseason. But his defense was nothing to gloat about during that stretch.

With the offseason right around the corner, Reaves is expected to decline his player-option and become an unrestricted free agent. While LeBron James is also set to become a free agent, the Lakers will have some tough decisions to make to address the roster to build around Luka Doncic.

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