The Los Angeles Lakers have invested in Austin Reaves as their proverbial project player. Over the past four seasons, Los Angeles has steadily increased Reaves' role and playing time, positioning him to emerge as a crucial contributor.
Reaves is now knocking on the door of All-Star status, but the time for patience has officially ended—and the clock could thus be ticking on his time with the Lakers.
Los Angeles signing Luka Doncic to a three-year extension has created new expectations for everyone on its roster. Reaves is chief among those players, as Doncic led the Dallas Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals and wants nothing less than championship glory moving forward.
According to Tim Bontemps of ESPN, a rival executive made it perfectly clear what Reaves has to do to secure his Lakers future: Prove he can step up in the playoffs alongside Doncic.
"This is a big season for him," one Western Conference assistant coach said. "He'd better bring it in the playoffs, because he's got to be good enough [to pair with Doncic]."
Whether fair or foul, Reaves is now going to be held to a simple standard: Play at a high enough level to help Doncic contend or expect changes to arrive.
Time for patience is over if Austin Reaves can't help Luka Doncic win
Reaves has increased his per-game averages in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and three-point field goals made across every NBA season he's played thus far. That certainly suggests he's on an upward trajectory, especially when one considers the strength of his 2024-25 campaign.
Reaves finished this past season with averages of 20.2 points, 5.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 2.7 three-point field goals made per game on .460/.377/.877 shooting.
The dynamic has changed, however, since the Lakers acquired Doncic ahead of the 2025 NBA trade deadline. Reaves is no longer playing in the role of a third star, but is soon to be tasked with potentially operating as the No. 2 alongside a new franchise player.
Bontemps also reported that a rival executive believes Reaves could command a salary in the range of $30 million per season—thus increasing the minimum accepted for a nightly performance even further.
Reaves has benefited immensely from being a cost-efficient player over the past four seasons. He'll still operate under that label in 2025-26 when he makes just $13,937,574 before likely declining his player option for the 2026-27 campaign and entering unrestricted free agency.
The difference between making less than $14 million and more than $30 million per season is more than financial, however, as the standards for performance also shoot through the roof.
Assuming he re-signs for the aforementioned figure, the nightly expectation will be star-caliber contributions. Furthermore, Reaves will be tasked with helping a superstar in their prime secure the championship they've already come close to winning.
If Reaves can't live up to those expectations in 2025-26, then it's fair to question if the Lakers will be able to justify a hefty new contract.