Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves has been criminally underpaid for a while now. He earned around $25 million in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons combined, and he’s set to earn fewer than $14 million in the upcoming 2025-26 campaign.
Reaves’ affordability has been advantageous for the Lakers’ already-bloated payroll in recent years, but a report indicates that he won’t be one of the more underpaid players in the league for all that much longer.
According to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, it seems overwhelmingly likely that Reaves will decline his player option for the 2026-27 season and enter unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2026, and he’s expected to seek a contract that will pay him in the range of $30 million annually.
“Reaves is nearly sure to decline his $14.9 million player option for the 2026-27 season to explore unrestricted free agency next summer, seeking a salary in the $30 million starting range,” Pincus wrote. “The most he can extend for ($19.5 million) is far short of that number. Any team acquiring him would need behind-the-scenes assurances that he’d re-sign at a pre-arranged price, although they wouldn’t be technically legal or binding.”
Former Lakers guard Lou Williams has made waves lately for his controversial take that the Lakers “don’t really need” Reaves now that Luka Doncic is in town and playing for the storied franchise, and maybe that sentiment will grow more popular in the coming months with Reaves in line for a lucrative new contract.
It’s worth noting that Reaves was connected to the San Antonio Spurs in rumors when he was a restricted free agent back in the 2023 offseason. The Spurs were weighing offering Reaves a maximum offer of $100 million over the course of four years, per The Athletic’s Jovan Buha. At the time, Reaves was fresh off a stint in the 2023 NBA Playoffs during which he averaged 16.9 points per game for a Lakers team that played in the Western Conference Finals.
Reaves is already one of the more accomplished undrafted players in the history of the NBA, and he’s played just four seasons in the league. He enjoyed a breakout campaign in his fourth NBA season, as he averaged 20.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game across 73 appearances (all starts).
How Reaves fares with the Lakers in the 2025-26 season could determine whether or not the Lakers feel he’s worth shelling out $30 million per year. If he continues his linear growth and ups his game to a bona fide All-Star level, perhaps the Lakers would be wise to pay him however much he wants.