Austin Reaves goes into the Lakers' preseason healthy

While a lot went wrong for the Lakers at the start of last season, a moment with major repercussions occurred months earlier. When Austin Reaves accepted a spot on the Team USA roster, it felt like a great opportunity for him to play at the international level.

Even if it were, it would come at a significant cost to the Lakers. Reaves didn't start the season at 100% and fought through a serious crisis at the beginning of the year. Ultimately, that led to him being benched and the Lakers delaying finding the starting five that brought them so much success.

There were obviously many other factors at play that led to the poor start, but Reaves' slow start didn't help. Because of that start, Reaves didn't make the jump that most expected him to make in year three.

However, entering his fourth year, Reaves has had a much more regular summer and therefore enters training camp in a much better position this year. Speaking to ESPN LA during Media Day, Reaves detailed how he feels physically after having an offseason to focus on his body.

“I feel a lot better, a lot healthier,” Reaves said. “I had the opportunity to really do my best both in the weight room and on the field. I feel like I've put myself in a really good position to hit the ground running.

“One of the most important things was the conditioning level. I spent a lot of time playing lines, which sucks and no one ever really wants to do it, but you have to do those things to put yourself in a position to play on both ends of the field.”

Reaves is the type of player who works behind the scenes, which was the talk of his press conference on Monday. Although he saw a lot more of his golf game than his basketball game this summer, he still had clear priorities.

Austin gave a little more insight into what he was working on when he wasn't playing golf this summer. While speaking to Spectrum, he added why he focused so much of his work on getting strong in the gym.

“A lot of it was strength margin early on,” Reaves said, “just getting as strong as possible and also being in the best shape possible…Going into this year was the most important thing because at the end of the year I felt like I would have gotten to a point where I was defending at a really high level, but not shooting the ball as well as I could on offense. So just be in the best shape possible to be able to play on both ends every night.

“I just love the effort to get better in all aspects of the game. It’s not just about one thing, it’s about working fully on my game.”

Offensively, Reaves’ game doesn’t have many obvious weaknesses. He's a true three-level scorer who also improved as a playmaker last year. Although there is still progress to be made defensively, it is difficult to improve in an empty gym in the summer.

Reaves is primed for a really big season. After establishing himself as a true NBA player, he now had a normal offseason where he could train and work on his body and game.

At the risk of disappointing for a second straight year, Reaves really does seem like the perfect spot for a big season in purple and gold.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.