The Los Angeles Lakers just offered guard Austin Reaves a four-year contract extension worth north of $89 million, which would have kept him locked into the team for the next six seasons.
On Thursday, June 26, one day after the first round of the NBA draft, Reaves declined to accept.
To be clear, that doesn't mean he is going anywhere -- now or in the future. Reaves still has two years remaining on his current $54 million contract and can't opt out of it until next summer, which means he will play for the Lakers next season unless new majority ownership deems it otherwise.
But there is a realistic chance now that a Reaves trade could happen, as his decision to turn down the extension offer indicates Reaves' intentions to opt out in the summer of 2026 and sail the free-agency waters in search of the highest payday possible.
Los Angeles Lakers stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves
Los Angeles Lakers stars Luka Doncic (left) and Austin Reaves (right).
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Reaves has spent his entire four-year NBA career with the Lakers to this point and the influx of cash coming into the organization after the Buss family recently sold it to one of the wealthiest ownership groups in sports bodes well for the franchise's future -- as does an expected contract extension with superstar Luka Doncic in August.
But salary cap realities in the new apron era of the NBA could force the Lakers' hand, depending on how aggressive they want to be rebuilding the roster around Doncic, and presumably LeBron James, this offseason with an eye toward contention in 2025-26.
Reaves' trade value is never going to be higher than it is right now based on his contract number and coming off a career year in which he averaged 20.2 points, 5.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 34.9 minutes per game across 73 starts.
If Los Angeles doesn't think it will be able to afford Reaves one year from now, and/or if the franchise don't see Reaves fitting into its longterm plans around Doncic, a trade this summer or ahead of the February deadline is a reasonable possibility.
"The Lakers have never shown interest in trading Reaves and continue to hold him in high value," Dan Woike of The Athletic wrote Thursday. "Still, there are skeptics around the NBA, mainly because there’s pressure for the Lakers to aggressively upgrade their roster alongside Luka Doncic, LeBron James and, presumably, Reaves — three players Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka singled out in his end-of-season news conference on May 1."