The Los Angeles Lakers made their first move as far as retaining their core on Wednesday when they agreed with Austin Reaves on a four-year, $185 million contract. Reaves has been expected to opt out of his contract this summer, and he has reportedly agreed to sign that new contract after the team has used up its cap space in the coming weeks.
It is seen as a bit of an overpay for a very skilled, productive and determined rising star guard who appeared in just 51 games this season due to multiple injuries and has underperformed in the last three postseasons. But it is the first and a very important domino to fall when it comes to the Lakers’ offseason goals.
Per Dan Woike of The Athletic, negotiations with Reaves and his agents, Aaron Reilly and Reggie Berry, lasted a week, and the 28-year-old is relieved.
“I mean, it was a breath of fresh air because I hadn’t stopped thinking about where I was going to be. And it’s just like a sigh of relief,” he said in a phone interview Wednesday. “I mean, regardless of whatever played out, I’m obviously grateful and in a good position to take care of the people I love. My heart’s been in L.A. Every morning I wake up, I’m just like, ‘I hope we can get this done today.’
“And even if I was frustrated through the process when we (weren’t) getting the numbers we wanted, the next morning I woke up, it was still the same thing: ‘Hopefully we can get this done today.’”
It has been quite a journey for Reaves, who grew up in Newark, Ark., a small town with a population of just over 1,000 and played his college basketball at Wichita State University and the University of Oklahoma, not exactly top-flight basketball programs. He went undrafted in 2021 and originally signed a two-way contract that summer with the Lakers, only to have his contract converted to a standard deal just before the start of the season.
A few other teams, particularly the Brooklyn Nets, were rumored to be interested in offering Reaves a lucrative contract. He admitted that there were times when he thought he might not stay with the Lakers.
“A couple of times actually,” Reaves said. “I didn’t know how negotiations would go. I don’t think Aaron and Reggie really knew how negotiations would go, so we learned a lot throughout the process. But like I said, we wanted to be in L.A., my heart was in L.A., and we got it done.”
The Lakers can now move on to the business of trying to keep their other soon-to-be free agents, including LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes. Center Deandre Ayton and guard Marcus Smart have player options for next season that they can decline in order to enter free agency themselves.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Austin Reaves doubted whether he would stay with the Lakers
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire | USA TODAY Network
