Originally published by LakersNation.com
One of the biggest dominoes for the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason will be what happens with Austin Reaves as he is expected to decline his player option and earn a significant pay day in unrestricted free agency.
It’s no secret that the Lakers want Reaves back, but he may have some other suitors with some even potentially willing to offer him a maximum contract. Despite interest from other teams, the Lakers still appear to be in the driver’s seat to re-sign the 28-year-old, per NBA insider Marc Stein:
The Lakers are widely expected to re-sign Reaves, whose fondness for Lakerland as well as his blossoming backcourt partnership alongside Luka Dončić are regarded as strong lures that suggest the sides will ultimately come to terms on a new pact.
Yet it is unclear what sort of external interest Reaves will generate after his strong production over the past two seasons … at least partly due to the inherent skepticism that stems from trying to woo him away from the Lakers. Brooklyn and Detroit have been mentioned as potential Reaves suitors, but neither is seen as a certainty yet.
There have been recent rumbles, in fact, about the Nets potentially looking at shorter deals if they do decide to be aggressive in free agency. League sources say that the Pistons, meanwhile, are expected to focus on potential trade additions rather than free agent targets when it comes to bolstering their shooting so as not to further complicate tricky looming contract extension negotiations with restricted free agent-to-be Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson, who will be rookie scale contract extension eligible from July 6 until the eve of Opening Night in October.
Reaves originally re-signed with the Lakers during his first free agency in 2023 for four years and around $54 million, which is a contract he has greatly outplayed.
Once he reaches free agency this year, Reaves will be eligible to re-sign with the Lakers for as much as five years and $241 million. It remains to be seen if he will want the full max and if the Lakers will offer it to him, but all signs continue to point towards Reaves re-signing to continue playing with Luka Doncic moving forward.
Danny Green believes Austin Reaves deserves max contract
One person who believes Reaves deserves a max deal is former Lakers wing Danny Green.
“I am a big Austin Reaves guy, I think he’s very special,” Green recently said on 710 AM ESPN L.A. “And his market, I think he’s very worthy of a max.”
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One of the biggest dominoes for the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason will be what happens with Austin Reaves as he is expected to decline his player option and earn a significant pay day in unrestricted free agency.
It’s no secret that the Lakers want Reaves back, but he may have some other suitors with some even potentially willing to offer him a maximum contract. Despite interest from other teams, the Lakers still appear to be in the driver’s seat to re-sign the 28-year-old, per NBA insider Marc Stein:
The Lakers are widely expected to re-sign Reaves, whose fondness for Lakerland as well as his blossoming backcourt partnership alongside Luka Dončić are regarded as strong lures that suggest the sides will ultimately come to terms on a new pact.
Yet it is unclear what sort of external interest Reaves will generate after his strong production over the past two seasons … at least partly due to the inherent skepticism that stems from trying to woo him away from the Lakers. Brooklyn and Detroit have been mentioned as potential Reaves suitors, but neither is seen as a certainty yet.
There have been recent rumbles, in fact, about the Nets potentially looking at shorter deals if they do decide to be aggressive in free agency. League sources say that the Pistons, meanwhile, are expected to focus on potential trade additions rather than free agent targets when it comes to bolstering their shooting so as not to further complicate tricky looming contract extension negotiations with restricted free agent-to-be Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson, who will be rookie scale contract extension eligible from July 6 until the eve of Opening Night in October.
Reaves originally re-signed with the Lakers during his first free agency in 2023 for four years and around $54 million, which is a contract he has greatly outplayed.
Once he reaches free agency this year, Reaves will be eligible to re-sign with the Lakers for as much as five years and $241 million. It remains to be seen if he will want the full max and if the Lakers will offer it to him, but all signs continue to point towards Reaves re-signing to continue playing with Luka Doncic moving forward.
Danny Green believes Austin Reaves deserves max contract
One person who believes Reaves deserves a max deal is former Lakers wing Danny Green.
“I am a big Austin Reaves guy, I think he’s very special,” Green recently said on 710 AM ESPN L.A. “And his market, I think he’s very worthy of a max.”
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.