Any NBA prospect who feels disappointed by how his draft night went should take solace in Austin Reaves’ new contract.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Wednesday that Reaves, 28, “intends” to sign a four-year, $185 million max contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. Once signed, it will be the richest contract in NBA history given to an undrafted player.
Reaves went undrafted out of Oklahoma before signing a two-way contract with the Lakers in August 2021. He made his NBA debut the following month. Over the past five seasons in L.A., Reaves developed into a valuable shooter for the Lakers.
This past season, Reaves was the Lakers’ second-leading scorer behind Luka Doncic, who won the NBA scoring title, and averaged a career-high 23.3 points on 58.8% shooting from the field (36% from three). Reaves suffered a Grade 2 oblique muscle strain on April 2, prematurely ending his regular season and compromising his playoff form.
The Lakers were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder after beating the Houston Rockets in the first round.
Reaves’ impending contract is the first domino to fall in a crucial offseason for the Lakers.
“The Reaves agreement has no impact on the Lakers cap flexibility this summer,” ESPN’s Bobby Marks wrote. “The Lakers projected room takes into account Reaves $20.9 million cap hold. He will sign last after the Lakers exhaust room. $41.3 million in the first year.”
Doncic is entering his age-28 season, so it’s incumbent upon the Lakers to build a roster around Doncic, complementary of Doncic’s skill set, to ensure they don’t blink and realize they have nothing to show for having an all-time great scorer’s prime.
So where does that leave LeBron James? At 41, James is still one of the most sought-after free agents this summer. The 22-time All-Star, four-time NBA MVP, and four-time NBA champion has kept his basketball future vague, at least publicly.
“L.A. is the first team he can talk to because he’s their own free agent,” ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne said on “SportsCenter” over the weekend. “My understanding [is that they] had initial conversations with LeBron James’ representative, but he has not even fully committed to returning next year in these conversations.”
Shelburne contiued, “The conversations were described to me as ‘we’re keeping in touch.’ Okay? So, there’s no commitment to even returning, or salary figures being discussed. I think that’s been interpreted as something like LeBron is still assessing his options, whether that’s retirement or whether that’s other teams. And if there are other teams that he’s looking at, what does that money look like?”
With Giannis Antetokounmpo traded from Milwaukee to Miami, James’ future will be the predominant NBA storyline of the summer.