Austin Reaves is fully expected to sign a new deal with the Los Angeles Lakers this summer, but nothing is set in stone. In fact, The Ringer's Zach Lowe just pointed to two teams not named the Lakers that could be involved in Reaves' offseason. At the same time, Lowe didn't hide from the fact that Reaves still probably ends up in a purple and gold uniform on a fresh contract.
"The safe money is they bring Reaves back," Lowe said during a recent episode of his podcast.
Lowe also asserted that if the Lakers "mess around and get too cute" with Reaves' salary negotiations, Reaves' reps will go to the Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls, the two teams in the NBA with the most cap space (and thus theoretically able to offer Reaves a massive deal).
Bulls and Nets could become Austin Reaves landing spots this summer
"Those teams are the leverage point for every agent now," Lowe said of the Nets and Bulls, "because they have tons of cap space."
Lowe also noted that there are other teams beyond those two that could create space to sign Reaves, allowing Reaves' agent to find leverage in multiple places around the league.
Ultimately, Lowe reiterated his prediction that Reaves will come back to the Lakers for 2026-27 and beyond, setting up another tough question for the LA -- how will it build a roster around Reaves and Luka Doncic that is good enough to compete with the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs moving forward?
This is the difficult question staring Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka in the face right now. Once Pelinka gives Reaves his pay day, he'll have LeBron James negotiations to deal with (if they haven't been dealt with already by that point), and that could result in another sizable contract on LA's books, unless LeBron does the unexpected and takes a massive pay cut.
Lakers still have the chance to pivot and let Austin Reaves walk
Not enough thought has been given in Lakers Nation discourse to the thought of moving on from Reaves. Especially with LeBron likely interested in coming back, might the Lakers be better off keeping cap space that Reaves' new deal would erase much of? Rather than bringing back Reaves, you could go out and get a Peyton Watson, who will likely be impossible to acquire if both Reaves and James return, as well as some other role players like Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard, and/or Rui Hachimura.
I'm not totally sold on a Doncic-Reaves duo being a championship recipe, considering neither player is good on defense. As Pelinka considers his offseason, I'd hope that he's still leaving open the possibility of not re-signing Reaves, allowing him to go play in a rebuilding situation like Chicago or Brooklyn.
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