Well before the offseason began, Austin Reaves had made it clear that his hope was to remain a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. That ultimately came to fruition as he agreed to a new four-year deal to stay with the team he has been with throughout his career after going undrafted in 2022.
The process was not without its hiccups as Reaves and his representation negotiated with the Lakers and, for a time, it even felt like the guard would have to go elsewhere to get the payday he desired. But Reaves always wanted to remain with the purple and gold.
“I wanted to be a Laker the whole time,” Reaves told reporters during a recent media availability. “Yeah, we had that period from when the season ended to the first to get something done and we figured it out before then. Like I said, my heart was in L.A. the whole time.”
Reaves has always been open about what he wanted and while he was willing to sign with another team if the Lakers were unwilling to pay him, he didn’t want that to be the case. Thankfully, he got what he wanted with his new max contract, though it seemingly took some other teams preparing to make that type of offer to Reaves, and the real threat of losing him, for the Lakers to come with that offer.
It makes sense for Reaves to want to remain in L.A. as the Lakers took a chance on him as undrafted free agent and he has made them look like geniuses. Reaves has increased his scoring every year of his career, averaging a career-high 23.3 points last season, to go along with 4.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists. Had it not been for injuries, Reaves almost certainly would have made his first All-Star Game last season
But now that the deal is done and he will be a Laker for the foreseeable future, Reaves’ focus now will be on continuing to get better and helping to lead this team, alongside his superstar backcourt partner Luka Doncic, back into championship contention.
Austin Reaves still hasn’t processed LeBron James’ departure from Lakers
There will be one major change for Reaves in his sixth season with the Lakers as, for the first time in his career, he will not be teammates with LeBron James. And the Lakers guard admitted that he still hasn’t quite processed the fact that James is no longer with the team.
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