Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves says his primary focus remains on helping his struggling squad win ballgames — not whether he continues to start or come off the bench.

Reaves — the clear-cut third-best player on the Lakers — averaged 17.0 points and 5.5 assists on .496/.400/.912 shooting splits in 29.9 minutes over the last 11 games of 2023 to cap off a strong month of December. Los Angeles (17-17) went 3-8 over that stretch. Despite the production, Reaves has only eclipsed 30 minutes once since Dec. 18.

Ham has shaken up the starting lineup recently as he searches for answers. Yet, he's refused to re-insert Reaves into the starting group — even after the demotion of fellow lead ball-handler, D'Angelo Russell. (A report from last week intimated tension between Reaves and head coach Darvin Ham.) Reaves was initially reassigned to reserve duty in November as the Lakers struggled with slow starts, which remains an Achilles heel.

“I get to play basketball for a living,” Reaves told ClutchPoints at Lakers shootaround on Wednesday. “Regardless of what my role is, what they ask me to do, I'm gonna go do it to help our team. That's all that matters to me … Winning is all that matters.”

I asked Reaves whether he's had any discussions with his head coach about the permanence of his role, at least through the end of this season. (Ham did not speak to reporters at shootaround.)

“I haven't had any — you know, we have so much change going on because guys have been in and out of the lineup, that you never know what could happen. So you gotta stay mentally locked in for whatever is possible. And that's kind of anything right now with the guys in and out of the lineup. So, one day could start, one day could come off the bench. At the end of the day, whatever that is, I've gotta do it to the best of my ability.”

Russell and Rui Hachimura are out for Wednesday's game vs. the Miami Heat, theoretically opening the door for Ham to put Reaves back in the starting group.

Unlike Russell, Reaves is a crunch-time staple for the Lakers. LeBron and Anthony Davis have developed profound trust in Reaves, thanks to his cold-blooded performance throughout the team's run to the Western Conference Finals last season.

“Austin's great. I like Austin no matter where he is,” LeBron reiterated following the Lakers' loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night. “It's always great to be on the floor with him. No matter if he's coming off the bench or if he's starting. I just love being on the floor with him. He makes plays.”

For the season, the third-year man is averaging 15.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists while shooting 47.7% from the field and 35.7% from 3.

As of Wednesday morning, Reaves is the betting favorite (+250) to win 2023-24 NBA Sixth Man of the Year, according to FanDuel.