The Los Angeles Lakers secured Luka Doncic‘s long-term commitment this summer. The league-wide expectation is that it will be Austin Reaves‘ turn next summer, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reports.
Reaves will be eligible for 25% of the Lakers’ or any team’s salary cap in the 2026-27 season if he opts out of the final year of his contract — which he is expected to do — and becomes an unrestricted free agent.
It is the sole reason why Reaves declined the Lakers’ four-year, $89.2 million offer earlier this summer. Reaves is widely expected to sign a more lucrative contract than the one the Lakers offered, but for less than 25% of the salary cap.
“I think he will get $30 [million] plus,” one executive told Bontemps.
And Reaves isn’t going anywhere.
That team executive wasn’t alone in this prediction, according to Bontemps.
“The expectation, from both that executive and others, is that Reaves ultimately will return to Los Angeles, which would cement Reaves’ role as the long-term running mate next to Doncic in L.A.’s backcourt — the role once held by [Jalen] Brunson then [Kyrie] Irving in Dallas,” Bontemps wrote.
If the league insiders’ predictions hold, it will be a home run for the Lakers.
According to ESPN’s front office insider Bobby Marks, Reaves’ first-year starting salary in a max contract next offseason would be a whopping $42.5 million.
Reaves stands to get a massive bag for an undrafted guard regardless of the final figure, whether it’s the maximum annual salary of $42.5 million or the $30-million-plus prediction.
Fred Van Vleet holds the record for the largest contract — three-year, $130 million with the Houston Rockets — ever signed by an undrafted guard.
Reaves will break that record if the Lakers give him a max contract next summer.
Both sides are motivated to get a deal done next summer, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
Reaves, who will earn just $13.9 million next season, has been clear about his desire to remain a Laker for life.
“I love the fans. I Love the weather, love the golf. And obviously, the Lakers are the best organization in basketball,” Reaves said at his June youth camp. “I don’t pay attention to [the trade rumors]. I keep my head down, work, and I feel like that’s one of the reasons I’m where I’m at.”
Lakers president Rob Pelinka called Reaves a part of the team’s “Big Three” alongside Doncic and LeBron James, vowing to build around that core after their disappointing first-round playoff exit.
“The level of confidence in Austin Reaves, LeBron James and Luka Doncic is at an all-time high still,” Pelinka told reporters during his end-of-season press conference. “I think those three guys have incredible promise playing together. And we will collectively do a better job to make sure they’re surrounded with the right pieces to have ultimate success.”
The Lakers’ first offseason move was to sign Jake LaRavia—who shares an agent with Reaves—to a two-year, $12 million guaranteed deal. They followed that by adding former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton and 2022 Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart via the buyout market to shore up their frontcourt and perimeter defense.
