The Los Angeles Lakers are off to a great start to their 2025-26 campaign.
The Lakers sit with a 6-2 record to start the season, which is good for a No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. LA is looking great as things stand, and much of it has to do with the play of their star guard, Austin Reaves.
Reaves has been stellar to start the season, and his play reflects their record. The 27-year-old standout has been on a tear, set to earn a ton of money. Reaves is set to be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2026 provided he declines the player option for the last season of his current four-year, $54 million contract.
The former undrafted rookie could receive life-changing money if things pan out his way. According to Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the growing belief is that Reaves’ contract is at least $30 million annually.
“The belief around the league is that $30 million per year is the absolute baseline for Reaves’ services. (There are currently 59 NBA players making at least that much.)
“Another executive theorized that with Reaves being able to get as much as four years and roughly $180 million from another team in free agency, that a five-year deal for more total dollars could be a good compromise to get a deal done to keep Reaves in L.A.”
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The former Oklahoma Sooner is on pace for the best season of his career, averaging 31.1 points per game, 9.3 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals while shooting 48.9 percent and 34.4 percent from three in 37.9 minutes of action.
The big question now is whether Reaves can maintain this level of play once LeBron James returns to the lineup. His stats might dip, but his efficiency doesn't have to.
One NBA executive expressed doubt that Reaves will sustain this pace, but acknowledged that he can still be a key contributor and remain the Lakers' third-best player.
“I don’t think he’s going to quite keep up this pace because LeBron will take away touches,” the executive said, “but he is good and the Lakers intend to keep him and he intends to stay, so my guess is it gets done.”
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