Austin Reaves is reportedly seeking a max contract of five years, $239 million from the Lakers this offseason, and it remains unclear whether he will take a discount.
Austin Reaves reportedly wants to earn his own bag, and it remains unclear whether he will entertain taking a significant pay cut for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Austin Reaves
Austin Reaves
Austin Reaves
MIN: 34.78
PTS: 22.93 (60.77%)
REB: 4.63
AS: 5.53
ST: 0.98
BL: 0.47
TO: 3.12
GM: 57
Appearing on Spectrum Sportsnet, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times revealed that Reaves is compelled to secure the maximum potential deal he can earn this offseason from the LA brass.
"He bet on himself. He stands to make a five-year, $241 million deal for the Lakers if they offer him that deal. Or if he goes to a team like Chicago, a team like Brooklyn, he can get four years, $178 million. Those teams will kind of lurk around. But based on what I understand, what I keep hearing, Austin wants the max," Turner said.
"Is he willing to give the Lakers a hometown deal? How? I'm not so sure about that. Maybe he does, but maybe his reps don't want him."
Reaves is highly anticipated to decline his $14.8 million player option for 2026-27 and enter the market as an unrestricted free agent this summer.
As such, he is poised to become a marquee name available in the offseason. Before going down with a brutal calf strain that forced him to be out for a significant time, Reaves has shown he is one of the league's brightest stars.
He finished the 2025-26 regular season averaging a career-best 23.3 points and 4.7 rebounds with 5.5 assists in 51 games played.
Reaves' free-agency situation and looming contract demands would be two of the Lakers' biggest tests to answer this offseason, beyond constructing a new complementary group around Luka Doncic and retaining LeBron James to a new deal.
"Austin was having an All-Star year until he got injured. He was having a great year when they were going strong in March. He has shown that he is a top player in the NBA, and he and Luka together, they formed one of the best backcourts offensively in the NBA," Turner added.
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