Inside $241 million week puts Austin Reaves at center of Lakers’ future
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LOS ANGELES — Austin Reaves packed a career’s worth of highlights into four memorable nights last month, and the run is now reshaping both the Los Angeles Lakers’ season and their balance sheet.
Beginning Oct. 26, the 27-year-old guard scored 51 points in Sacramento, followed by 41 the next evening at Crypto.com Arena against Portland. Two days later, on Oct. 29 in Minneapolis, he capped a 28-point, 16-assist performance with a last-second floater that beat the Timberwolves, earning his second game ball in four nights.
With LeBron James (sciatica) and Luka Doncic (sprained finger and leg bruise) sidelined, Reaves’ surge pushed Los Angeles to an 8-3 start. The outburst also underscored what it may cost to keep him when he reaches unrestricted free agency in July.
From Southwest flights to nine-figure talks
Inside the Target Center locker room after the buzzer-beater, teammate Jarred Vanderbilt joked that Reaves should charter a private jet to catch a potential World Series Game 7 in Toronto. Reaves laughed, replying, “I’m taking Southwest. I’m broke.” Vanderbilt answered, “Not for long.”
Reaves currently earns $12.9 million in the third year of a four-year, $54 million contract he signed in 2023. On June 23, one day after the NBA Finals ended, the Lakers offered the maximum extension allowed under the collective bargaining agreement: four years and $89 million, sources told ESPN. Reaves and his agents, Aaron Reilly and Reggie Berry of AMR Agency, declined the offer during a 45-minute video call with team governor Jeanie Buss, general manager Rob Pelinka and coach JJ Redick.
Under league rules, Reaves can now command up to five years and $241 million from Los Angeles, or four years and $178.5 million from another club. The potential first-year salary of $41.5 million would equal 25% of the projected 2026-27 salary cap.
Injury absence highlights value
The Lakers felt Reaves’ importance when he missed three games with a strained right groin. Los Angeles opened a five-game trip with a 122-102 loss in Atlanta on Nov. 8, a defeat that came against an undermanned Hawks roster.
“AR’s a stud,” an Eastern Conference front-office executive told ESPN. “If I were the Brooklyn Nets, I would throw all the money at him.”
Leadership push from JJ Redick
Redick, hired in June, has urged Reaves to embrace a larger role. “You’re no longer the undrafted guy,” the coach said. Reaves responded, guiding a roster that also features rookies such as Chris Mañon and Bronny James, who study his path from two-way contract to starter.
Doncic, meanwhile, has formed a playful rapport with Reaves built on constant trash talk. Their chemistry is considered essential as the Lakers plan around Doncic’s long-term tenure.
For now, Reaves says winning remains the priority. “I want to be here, I want to win,” he told ESPN. “Even though the other extension was turned down, that doesn’t mean I’m trying to get a gigantic number that doesn’t make sense.”
Three weeks into the season, his play has the Lakers near the top of the Western Conference—and contemplating an investment that could approach a quarter of a billion dollars.
Source: ESPN
