One of the first viral moments of the Los Angeles Lakers offseason was Austin Reaves’ open recruitment of Jake LaRavia to join the team in free agency. The two share an agent, are close friends and were seen together on a few occasions in the offseason.
So when LaRavia signed with the Lakers on a two-year contract worth just over $12 million, it came as a surprise to very few. LaRavia joins Reaves, Luka Doncic and LeBron James with a chance to form one of the most potent offenses in basketball.
The former Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings forward got a kind welcome message from his friend, Reaves after the news broke of him signing with the Lakers:
Austin Reaves welcomes Jake LaRavia to the Lakers after his successful recruitment pitch: https://t.co/d1VyHhUVwe pic.twitter.com/oOHTGsiPDW
— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) July 8, 2025
LaRavia’s pre-existing friendship with Reaves should make his transition to the Lakers very easy. Not to mention that fact that he figures to be a seamless fit within the Lakers offensive system, as a knock-down 3-point shooter that can also create his own looks off the dribble.
Defensively, LaRavia’s development — only entering his fourth season — is going to be a massive factor. Losing Dorian Finney-Smith left L.A. without their best perimeter defender, and it’s going to be a team effort to replace what he brought.
But the way team chemistry is built is through roster consistency, or strong bonds between players on the roster. The Lakers get a little bit of both by keeping their roster largely the same, but adding LaRavia.
Jake LaRavia felt Lakers were best fit
There has been a lot of attention given to the Lakers signing of center Deandre Ayton and rightfully so as the center position was the team’s biggest need coming into the offseason. But the Lakers’ signing of Jake LaRavia is a bit of an under-the-radar move that could have a real impact on the team this season.
LaRavia is a promising young wing with good size, athleticism and the ability to defend multiple positions. Additionally, he is a career 37.1% 3-point shooter and at only 23 years old has plenty of room to grow into an ideal 3-and-D wing who can play an important role for the Lakers.
To this point in his career, LaRavia hasn’t really been able to show he can be a rotation player, but now with the Lakers, that opportunity is in front of him and he is excited to be a member of the purple and gold.
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