3 Lakers free agents who have already earned a spot on next year’s team
By Jason Reed
![LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 07: LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates with Troy Brown Jr. #7 after scoring to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer, surpassing Abdul-Jabbar's career total of 38,387 points against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Crypto.com Arena on February 07, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 07: LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates with Troy Brown Jr. #7 after scoring to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer, surpassing Abdul-Jabbar's career total of 38,387 points against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Crypto.com Arena on February 07, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/46d0075f6a0d4978f0b2c4481431fd4c5a839de2341504477b3032c1e3cea54a.jpg)
Austin Reaves
Austin Reaves is probably the most liked player on the Los Angeles Lakers right now. While his Jeremy Lin-like run has slowed down, he is still undoubtedly a valuable rotation player that is only going to continue to get better with more time in the NBA.
Lakers fans would be outraged if the team let Reaves walk this offseason, especially after LA allowed the same thing to happen with Alex Caruso. The situations were a bit different as Caruso was an unrestricted free agent but the Lakers still could have brought him back for a reasonable price.
Reaves is a restricted free agent and that makes his contract situation interesting. Another team can come in and offer Reaves a new deal with an inflated salary over the last two years, forcing the Lakers to either pay Reaves more than his market value in years three and four of the deal or simply let him walk.
Unless another team is doing it just to make the Lakers’ life harder, the chances of Reaves getting an absurd contract offer is slim. The Lakers should be able to bring Reaves back for a reasonable price that is still going to include them opening their checkbook.
22 players the Lakers gave up on too early. dark. Next
If not, it will prove that ownership is more concerned with the bottom line and saving money than they are making the fans happy and winning basketball games. It would not be the first time they have disappointed fans.