Los Angeles Lakers star Austin Reaves never made it to free agency as he reportedly agreed to a four-year, $185 million contract to return to the team.
Reaves was able to secure a max contract to return to the Lakers, which is what he wanted all along. In an interview with Dan Woike of The Athletic though, he revealed that he recently thought he would be leaving and signing elsewhere:
“A couple of times actually,” Reaves said. “I didn’t know how negotiations would go. I don’t think Aaron and Reggie really knew how negotiations would go, so we learned a lot throughout the process. But like I said, we wanted to be in L.A., my heart was in L.A., and we got it done.”
Reaves also opened up about the negotiating process and how much he didn’t like the uncertainty:
“I didn’t like it,” Reaves told The Athletic. “It was weird. It just was, I mean, it’s just a lot of ‘What ifs.’ I just like to know where I’m going to be.”
Now that Reaves has agreed to his new deal though, he can relax and enjoy his summer as he prepares for next season:
“I mean, it was a breath of fresh air because I hadn’t stopped thinking about where I was going to be. And it’s just like a sigh of relief,” he said in a phone interview Wednesday. “I mean, regardless of whatever played out, I’m obviously grateful and in a good position to take care of the people I love. My heart’s been in L.A. Every morning I wake up, I’m just like, ‘I hope we can get this done today.’
“And even if I was frustrated through the process when we (weren’t) getting the numbers we wanted, the next morning I woke up, it was still the same thing: ‘Hopefully we can get this done today.’
This is the largest contract in NBA history for an undrafted player, something Reaves has worked very hard to earn since joining the Lakers.
He and Luka Doncic are now both locked up for the long haul, so the Lakers can begin building the roster around them with the goal of competing for championships.
Pistons were interested in Austin Reaves
Perhaps negotiations were so frustrating for Reaves because the Lakers didn’t immediately offer him the max. According to reports though, the Detroit Pistons were ready to make a run at him in free agency, so the Lakers must’ve caught wind of that and increased their offer.
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