Austin Reaves’ unrestricted free agency was one of the biggest dominos to fall for the Los Angeles Lakers as he was understandably looking for a hefty pay raise. Opposing teams were positioning themselves to free up cap space to offer Reaves a max contract and L.A. did not want to take any chances of him entertaining offers.
Both sides quickly reached an agreement on a four-year, $185 million maximum contract with a starting salary of $41.2 million. Now, Los Angeles has their backcourt locked in and the Arkansas native is looking forward to competing for championships alongside Luka Doncic for years to come, via Dan Woike of The Athletic:
“It’s going to be fun. And like I said, winning a championship is the main goal,” Reaves said. “And I feel like, you know, with me and Luka, that’s a great starting piece to compete. And when we put a roster together that can go compete, I feel like winning a championship will basically solidify everything that I want and everything that the Lakers want.
“And it kind of meets the common goal of why they gave me the money they did.”
Opinions swirled immediately when the news broke regarding whether Reaves is worth a massive financial commitment like this. He will be judged as a $40-plus million player and expected to provide production of that echelon.
L.A. will use his cap hold to sign him to this max contract, which allowed general manager Rob Pelinka to still access their approximate $52 million cap space to make moves to further improve this roster. Reaves and Doncic have made it clear that they want to compete for titles and it was up to the front office to hold up their part of the deal to give them a chance.
They delivered in a big way by landing Walker Kessler in a sign-and-trade with the Utah Jazz, and then began filling out their roster with free agent signings like Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Sexton.
The Lakers’ starting backcourt showed that they can be a high-quality, potentially championship pairing despite their defensive concerns. More two-way talent was needed for the Lakers to reach their full potential and hopefully, they were able to accomplish that with their moves.
Lakers had discussions for Tyler Herro & Kel’el Ware before re-signing Austin Reaves
Before Reaves agreed to re-sign with the Lakers, it seems like there is a genuine concern that he was preparing to leave Los Angeles. The Detroit Pistons were a notable team trying to sign Reaves and L.A. was exploring avenues to find a potential replacement.
Before Giannis Antetokounmpo was traded to the Miami Heat, the Lakers reportedly had discussions with Miami for Tyler Herro and Kel’el Ware. The extent of how far along this trade was remains to be seen, but when these reports come out, it usually signals some level of seriousness.
Having Reaves walk for nothing in free agency would have bee a nightmare scenario, but at least there were plans in place to find a replacement for him, along with acquiring a starting-caliber center.
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