The Los Angeles Lakers are widely expected to re-sign Austin Reaves this summer to something in the neighborhood of a max contract. Reaves has grown into an offensive star in a Lakers uniform, and he's well-liked by franchise centerpiece Luka Doncic. Ignoring the defensive problems that a Doncic-Reaves backcourt brings to the table, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka is intent on retaining Reaves and building around Luka and AR moving forward, according to all reports.
There have been some reports suggesting that the Lakers shouldn't get too careless in negotiating with Reaves, seeing as AR's market might be stronger than assumed. In line with that reporting is a recent piece from The Athletic's Dan Woike, in which Woike revealed three teams interested in Reaves in free agency.
Pistons, Hawks, and Nets are reportedly in on Austin Reaves
"Multiple front-office sources around the league, granted anonymity to freely discuss an opposing player, expect Reaves to have interest from the Brooklyn Nets, with a four-year, $178.5 million contract expected to be offered," Woike wrote. "League sources said the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks are among a group of interested teams that can create space to make competitive offers. Other teams could also emerge."
The Nets' reported $178.5 million offer won't be able to compete with what the Lakers can offer Reaves (the maximum possibility being a five-year, $241 million deal). Detroit and Atlanta are interesting potential suitors in that, unlike Brooklyn, they are contenders or fringe contenders in the Eastern Conference, something that might appeal to Reaves if he does consider alternative options to the Lakers.
Lakers still have the chance to take a different stance on Austin Reaves
There's also still the opportunity for Pelinka to do a 180 and decide to move on from Reaves altogether. This would give the Lakers more cap flexibility this summer to build an athletic, defensively-minded roster around Luka, not dissimilarly from how the New York Knicks are constructed around Luka's former Dallas Mavericks teammate, Jalen Brunson.
It's highly unlikely that Pelinka would have the gall to go in this direction, mostly because Reaves is fully endorsed by Luka at this point, and Pelinka and the Lakers have made a point to keep Doncic happy in roster-building matters and include his directive and/or preference for players as a legitimate voice in major decisions.
That being said, until Reaves is officially a Laker once again, we might keep hearing about the Hawks and Pistons as low-key suitors. For what it's worth, Reaves' path to an NBA Finals would be easier on either of those squads than it would be on the Lakers.
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