Austin Reaves’ new $185-million deal guarantees him a deal richer than any undrafted player has ever received.
The deal coming in at such a big number might have Laker fans thinking they just offered him the max and got it over with, but that’s far from the case.
Reaves mentioned feeling relief that an agreement was reached, and that’s likely because, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the Lakers weren’t initially offering him a max deal.
On Thursday’s episode of “First Take,” Windhorst said the
Lakers were offering Reaves much less, putting his future with the team in question.
“Austin Reaves, from what I understand, two days ago was somewhere around $30 million a year in his offer from the Lakers. A very good contract. It is a far cry from what they offered him yesterday. What they offered him yesterday and what he agreed to was more than $45 million a year. That’s a 50 percent increase in like 24 hours. That’s why Austin Reaves was falling down on the golf course yesterday. Because he got his contract offer up 50 percent.”
With teams like the Pistons reportedly interested in signing Reaves, the Lakers likely felt pressure to pay him the max and avoid the risk of him going elsewhere.
Of course, paying him less would’ve been ideal for the franchise, but even less ideal would’ve been watching Reaves flourish in Detroit and having fans wonder why LA let a homegrown talent like that walk away.
The Lakers couldn’t risk that, so they did the smart thing and paid Reaves the max to ensure he’d remain in Los Angeles.
The Lakers’ front office does deserve credit for being tough negotiators here. They tried to get a deal done for less than the max, but didn’t mess around when it became clear that’s what it would take to keep him.
Now, the Lakers have their backcourt locked up, and considering how quickly they reportedly went from an offer around $30 million to one over $45 million, it’s unlikely there are any hurt feelings over this process.
In free agency, the market dictates what one is worth. Clearly, there was some interest in Reaves as a max player from other teams, so the Lakers stepped up and made sure they had a fair offer on the table.
But before they just gave Reaves a higher number, they tried to do something team-friendly, and that was a good way to go through this process.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
