Keeping Austin Reaves a Laker may require a significant pay raise for the guard if and when he does hit free agency.
Austin Reaves has been underpaid throughout his NBA career, a byproduct of joining a team as an undrafted rookie and progressing in leaps and bounds every season.
The 2024-25 season was a career year for Reaves. He averaged 20.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists in his 73 games. With Reaves earning just shy of $13 million, he is far outperforming that contract and is on one of the best deals in the league.
This will likely change very soon. While Reaves is under contract for next season, he has a player option for 2026-27. And given the fact he’s underpaid, it’s safe to assume he’ll opt out of that deal. While the Lakers can offer him an extension this offseason, they can only give a certain percentage higher than his current salary, per the CBA. So, again, the fact that he’s underpaid means that the extension will likely be turned down.
Instead, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report recently laid out the more likely path Reaves will take over the coming years.
“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. 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.”
Reaves more than deserves this uptick in income given his play during his rookie deal. While that $30 million figure might seem jarring, remember it would be a salary for a player in a couple of years.
With a new TV deal and the cap increasing yearly, a $30 million contract annually for Reaves will feel like a much lower figure than it does present day.
Also, the Lakers will likely have a ton of cap space if LeBron is gone by the time you have to pay Reaves what’s considered to be fair market value for a young guard scoring 20 points per game.
So, for now, it seems the parameters of what he wants are understood and more than fair. With the Lakers still loving Reaves, they’ll have chances along the way to ensure he remains in a purple and gold uniform whenever he decides to sign a new deal.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.