Austin Reaves is on arguably the best contract in the NBA. The 20-point-a-game scorer last season for the Lakers will make $13.9 million — less than the full midlevel exception — this season, the third year of his four-year, $53.8 million contract.
Next summer, Reaves is expected to use his player option to become a free agent — and the man is going to get paid. Several executives told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps to expect a deal that averages more than $30 million a season.
I think he will get $30 [million] plus,” one executive told ESPN, echoing multiple front office sources who were asked about the next deal Reaves could command.
Those executives also echoed the idea that Reaves will re-sign with the Lakers — he is loyal, Los Angeles needs him as the No. 2 shot creator next to Luka Doncic, and he’s a fan favorite so the backlash of letting him walk would be ugly. Reaves’ ability to shoot the rock (37.7% on 3-pointers last season, 39.9% on catch-and-shoot attempts), play off the ball or on, makes him an ideal fit next to Doncic.
However, there are questions that this season is going to answer about Reaves and his fit with the team. One is the playoffs, where Reaves struggled against the athletic Timberwolves defense, scoring 16.2 points and 3.6 assists per game while shooting just 41.1% overall and 31.9% from beyond the arc — now he needs to prove that was a fluke. While he’s improved on that end, Reaves remains a minus defender, which is tough to put next to Doncic for long stretches (especially in the playoffs).
That said, look at the guards making around $30 million a season right now — Jalen Suggs, Tyler Herro, Jordan Poole, Dejounte Murray — and Reaves slots in nicely with that group. A deal in the four-year, $120 million range sounds about right.
If the Lakers don’t want to pay it, other teams will. But the Lakers will pay it. Expect Los Angeles and Reaves to work out a deal, although he could be a late official signing as the Lakers use their expected cap space (depending on what happens with LeBron James’ future with the team) to build out the roster they want around Doncic, then use their Bird rights to re-sign Reaves. That said, the deal will get done.
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