Lakers' Plan for Austin Reaves Should Be Clear With Suitors Emerging Ahead of Free Agency

The NBA Finals are still rolling, but free agency is mere weeks away from opening. While Lakers star guard Austin Reaves is one of this year's top free agents, it's widely presumed he'll ink a new deal to remain in Los Angeles that comes with a much deserved payday. That doesn't mean other teams can't try to poach him, though.

According to a report from The Athletic's Dan Woike on Friday, Reaves is expected to have interest from the Brooklyn Nets who could offer a deal for close to $45 million annually. Citing sources, Woike also brought up the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks as teams that are interested who can also create the space to make a competitive offer.

Reaves has a $14.9 million player option with the Lakers for next season which he'll almost certainly decline to finally get paid. L.A. couldn't offer their star guard anything close to his value previously since he came to the organization as an undrafted free agent. He's coming off a career season where he averaged 23.3 points, 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game while connecting on 36% of his 6.4 three-point attempts per night. He emerged as the Lakers best scorer behind Luka Dončić, surpassing LeBron James in that role.

A new contract is coming at a great time for Reaves. That's not the case for the Lakers, however, who are headed for a tricky offseason.

A look at the Lakers' upcoming offseason

James will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason alongside Reaves. It remains unclear whether James will return to the Lakers, head elsewhere or decide to call it quits after an NBA record 23 seasons. James made $52.6 million this past season and while his potential next contract could be much less at this stage of his career, his pedigree and consistent level of excellence could still cost a pretty penny. If he decides to come back to the Lakers, he could agree to a big discount if he thinks the team is in a position to contend for a title.

The biggest predicament that leaves the Lakers in is that it's unknown when James will make his decision and president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka likely wants to get a deal done with Reaves as soon as he can. And Reaves's presumed big pay bump would limit the Lakers' flexibility depending on the price James wants. That would also come into play as the team tries to retain other key free agents like Rui Hachimura, Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes.

Maxi Kleber is another Lakers free agent, while Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart both have player options less than $10 million for next season that each will need to make a decision on. Dončić's three-year, $160.4 million contract extension he signed a year ago kicks in next season, which makes this offseason about adding, and more importantly keeping, the right pieces around the superstar guard to make a run in the stacked Western Conference.

The Lakers need to pay Austin Reaves his money and not think twice about it

It's no surprise that Reaves will garner serious interest on the free-agent market on a massive deal. He's a top-20 scorer who could serve as a lead guard on most teams across the NBA, but he's likely already in the best situation for him.

Dončić led the NBA in scoring last year with 33.5 points per game. Reaves takes pressure off the Lakers' superstar and gives him more space to operate. His gravity pulls defenders away from Dončić which allows him to score at such a high volume. That works the other way, too, as playing next to Dončić has done wonders from Reaves. Since he stepped into the NBA five seasons ago, he's always played second fiddle. First to James, now to Dončić. There's no question that Reaves could thrive as another team's primary scorer, but he's been so good as a secondary scorer and playmaker thus far, there's no reason to change what's worked.

He steered his way to the Lakers as an undrafted rookie as he declined other opportunities to make his way onto L.A.'s roster. Now, he has the opportunity to choose his own path once again.

But the Lakers should make Reaves's decision simple: Pay the man and lock in the star backcourt duo for years to come.

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This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 11:48 PM.