Coming off a career year, Austin Reaves is going to be in line to receive a lucrative contract after declining a player option and becoming an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his Los Angeles Lakers career.
The 27-year-old has improved in each of his five seasons with the Lakers and after a borderline All-Star year, he could be looking at a new contract that pays him around $40 million annually, per Dan Woike and Sam Amick of The Athletic.
While team and league sources believe that the Lakers and Reaves will eventually land on a contract that makes sense, the door for Reaves to walk is open should he get a big offer elsewhere. Rival executives predicted Reaves could command $40 million a season due to a combination of his play, his age and, perhaps most importantly, a free-agent class completely devoid of players as productive as him in their prime.
This is a well-deserved pay day for Reaves, who originally signed with the Lakers as an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma back in 2021.
It remains to be seen if the Lakers will be willing to keep him for that price, although Rob Pelinka made it clear at his end-of-season press conference that there is mutual interest in Reaves returning to the purple and gold.
While some potential suitors are already beginning to emerge, reports have also indicating that Luka Doncic wants Reaves back, so this should be a no-brainer decision for L.A. when free agency rolls around.
LeBron James enjoyed witnessing growth of Austin Reaves
One person who has been there every step of the way in Reaves’ NBA journey has been LeBron James, who has enjoyed witnessing the growth of his teammate.
“Just seeing AR grow over, what, five years? It’s been nothing short of amazing,” James said following the conclusion of the Lakers’ season. “He’s a hard worker, loves the game, he wants to get better and he’s not afraid of constructive criticism. I kind of knew that from the beginning.
“I saw the talent but I also saw he was willing to put the work in and wasn’t afraid of the moment. To see where he is today is awesome. I knew he could be a big-time player for our ballclub if he just got the opportunity and if gained confidence in himself to know he belonged in this league, then he could do some special things in this league. He’s obviously shown it.”
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.
