Austin Reaves knows his worth and apparently it’s more than $90 million. The Los Angeles Lakers offered the former undrafted rookie a four-year max deal worth $90 million, which Reaves declined, per The Athletic’s Dan Woike. Now that’s the most the Lakers can offer him, so in theory, he could sign for more elsewhere for more next summer if he elects to hit free agency.
Whatever happens from now will prove Reaves either knew what he was doing or took really bad advice from his agent. This isn’t the first time Reaves took a gamble, this time it’s to prove he’s worth paying like a top player in the NBA.
Austin Reaves declined a max offer from the LA Lakers, setting up an uncertain future
The Lakers are going to find a way to keep Reaves at all costs. There’s a chance it costs them LeBron James, which is a path they’ll have to cross sooner rather than later. James has a $52.6 million player option, which he is likely to opt in and has until June 29 to do that. He could do something similar to Kyrie Irving where he declines it and signs another deal that would free up some space.
That’s a possibility, though he could also just walk away from LA altogether. The Lakers probably aren’t going to let Reaves just walk in free agency. He’s part of the future core with Luka Doncic this Lakers franchise have seemingly decided to invest in.
Though Reaves wasn’t as productive as he usually is in the postseason, resulting in the Lakers getting bounced out of the playoffs in the first round, he’s way too valuable to let go and the Lakers and Reaves will agree on a number before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
The Lakers should take a page out of the Boston Celtics book and be careful paying everybody
The Boston Celtics are still reeling from their decision to pay everybody as it put them into luxury tax hell. They’ve managed to ease some of that relief, but with it a lesson to be learned. The Lakers have to be careful doing the same thing. Doncic is due for an extension and James is still going to yield a high salary cap hit too.
If they end up paying Reaves a similar deal as the Celtics did with Jrue Holiday or Derrick White with deals upwards of $100 million, that will make it harder to build a well-rounded roster. Reaves and the Lakers are at odds, but the hardest part is yet to come.
How the Lakers move forward will determine how they’ll truly invest in this roster to make it competitive in the loaded Western conference again.