The Los Angeles Lakers knew what they had in Austin Reaves. As soon as they had a chance, they locked him up on a four-year, $53.8 million contract. And now, it’s paid off, and Reaves is about to get paid even more. When the Dallas Mavericks had a chance to pay Jalen Brunson a similar amount, they didn’t. And it was a monster mistake.
Dallas had a chance to give Brunson a four-year, $55.5 million rookie extension after he had just finished fourth in Sixth Man of the Year voting (2020-21). But the Mavs hesitated. They wanted to think about it. And ultimately, the two sides didn’t come together on a deal, and the next year, Brunson signed with the New York Knicks.
Now, he’s in the NBA Finals, up 1-0 on the San Antonio Spurs as New York’s best player.
Lakers paid Austin Reaves the deal that the Mavericks wouldn't give Jalen Brunson
Brunson is one of the best players in the NBA. He’s an elite scoring point guard, and in Game 1 of The Finals, he proved that. His shot-makingin the fourth quarter led the Knicks to a victory.
He could be doing that on the Mavericks right now. He could be everything they wanted and more, but they hesitated to sign what was a very reasonable contract, even at the time.
As a result, they lost him. And a few years later, Nico Harrison decided to take things a step further, trading Luka Doncic to the Lakers. Now, the Mavs don’t have either of the elite guards they selected in the same draft.
But the Lakers knew better. They knew what they had in Reaves, who went undrafted. They knew that if they didn’t pay him, they could end up like the Mavs, who lost out on a 1A-level player.
Obviously, Reaves isn’t necessarily at the same level as Brunson. He’s not the best player on the Lakers. But he’s a pretty darn good 1B player, especially next to Doncic (who could be playing in Dallas alongside Brunson right now).
So, when the opportunity arose to hand Reaves nearly the same exact contract that Dallas could have given Brunson, the Lakers didn’t think twice. They gave it to Reaves.
Fast forward to today, and the Lakers’ decision paid off. They are about to give Reaves an even bigger contract this summer. He’ll almost certainly be getting a max deal.
They avoided the same mistake the Mavericks made all those years ago.
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