Austin Reaves will continue to be a key member of the Los Angeles Lakers going forward as his four-year, $180 million near maximum contract extension was officially announced on Sunday.
“Austin’s relentless pursuit of improvement, fierce competitiveness and commitment to winning have made him an integral part of our organization,” said Los Angeles Lakers President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka in a statement.
“From the moment he joined the Lakers, Austin has embodied the work ethic and selfless approach that define our culture. We’re thrilled to continue building with him as a cornerstone of our team as we pursue our championship goals.”
Reaves has spent his entire five-year career with the Lakers, growing into one of the best young guards in the league and pairing extremely well with superstar Luka Doncic.
Reaves has dramatically improved each season and is coming off a year that saw him average 23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists in 51 games.
With LeBron James departing in free agency, Reaves is now the longest-tenured member of the Lakers. It was always his hope to stick around with the Purple and Gold, and he will now look to lead the franchise to their 18th NBA championship.
“That was the main goal at the start of everything was to continue my career with the Lakers and whatever that looked like,” Reaves recently said. “But as far as the contract, basketball, I mean it’s all great but at the end of the day I love basketball and I wanna compete and I wanna win.”
Austin Reaves ‘excited’ about Lakers’ new roster additions
The Lakers will have a new-look roster next season after adding the likes of Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Colin Sexton, Kevon Looney and Ziaire Williams this summer.
While the expectation is that the Lakers could still make other moves, Reaves likes what the team has done so far to shape the roster around himself and Doncic.
“Very excited. You know, you never wanna see people you’ve been with for years leave,” Reaves said in an interview with Keith Jouganatos of KRCR Channel 7. “Obviously, I don’t have all the time in the world to talk about how great LeBron is and how much he means to me and my career. But, miss all those guys. It’s a good opportunity for us to turn the page and see what’s next.”
Reaves is now the longest-tenured Laker and one of the leaders of the team.
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