Pistons just gave Lakers a real reason to believe Austin Reaves could walk

The Detroit Pistons are reportedly interested in signing Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Austin Reaves. Though Los Angeles is generally expected to re-sign Reaves. he'll be an unrestricted free agent this summer and can sign elsewhere without the Lakers being able to prevent him from doing so.

Though there were inevitably going to be interested suitors, the Pistons are a genuine threat to the Lakers as a team with a superstar of their own and a far better rotation of defenders.

Reaves, 28, is widely expected to sign a lucrative new contract no matter where he ends up. One of the primary reasons many believe Los Angeles will re-sign him, however, is the fact that they have cap space heading into an offseason during which few teams have such a luxury. Detroit is an unfortunate exception to that rule.+

According to Dan Woike of The Athletic, the Pistons are interested in Reaves and able to make an offer that would rival the Brooklyn Nets' proposed four-year, $178.5 million deal.

"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. 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."

If the Pistons can offer a contract exceeding $40 million per season to Reaves, then the Lakers could realistically lose one of their franchise cornerstones this summer.

Pistons interested in Austin Reaves, can offer in range of $178.5 million

Reaves re-signing with the Lakers would seemingly be built on his belief in the pairing he's formed with All-NBA point guard Luka Doncic. That's certainly an appealing selling point, but the Pistons have an All-NBA point guard of their own in Cade Cunningham.

While Doncic borders on being unrivaled in regard to his generational combination of scoring and playmaking, Cunningham isn't too far behind—and adds the benefit of consistent defensive intensity.

That could prove to be an invaluable selling point to Reaves, who tends to be more offensively inclined. He'd still need to defend, which he's willing and able to do, but Cunningham would take far more pressure off of him on that end of the floor than Doncic if history is a sign of things to come.

This past season, Cunningham ranked in the 83rd percentile in perimeter isolation defense and the 50th percentile in off-ball chaser defense, per Basketball Index. Doncic, meanwhile, ranked in the 43rd and 20th percentiles.

Pistons have an elite defense and a superstar point guard of their own

The differences continue with the teams at large. In 2025-26, Los Angeles ranked No. 20 in defensive rating, while Detroit finished the season at No. 2. Furthermore, while the Lakers are looking to bring in high-level defenders to change the culture, the Pistons have already achieved that monumental task.

For an offensive star like Reaves, that could prove appealing—particularly when one considers that he'd likely receive more touches and a bigger role in Detroit than in Los Angeles.

Cunningham is a ball dominant player, but Doncic has tendencies that reach certain extremes. For instance: Doncic ranked No. 1 in the NBA in usage rate at 36.8, whereas Cunningham finished No. 11 at 29.6. Doncic averaged an absurd 33.5 points and 8.3 assists per game, of course, but Cunningham led Detroit to 60 wins with tremendous averages of his own at 23.9 points and 9.9 assists.

Reaves has excellent chemistry with Doncic, and by no means is this article meant to suggest otherwise, but he could conceivably have a more balanced offensive role alongside Cunningham.

Pistons already built the type of team the Lakers are trying to construct

Furthermore, the Pistons have a young core in place that's checked several boxes the Lakers are attempting to address on the fly. They have an All-Defense wing in Ausar Thompson, a sharpshooting veteran in Duncan Robinson, and an All-Star center in Jalen Duren.

Detroit also has a quality third guard in Daniss Jenkins, who has a team-friendly club option, and a top-tier defensive big in Isaiah Stewart anchoring the second unit.

Compounded by the fact that the Pistons are a young team that just won 60 games and a playoff series, Reaves can join a franchise on the rise. Returning to Los Angeles would give him a prominent role on a team that just won 53 games, but there's still a sense of instability considering seven of the Lakers' top nine players in minutes per game are currently eligible for unrestricted free agency.

There's still ample reason to believe that the Lakers will re-sign their rising star shooting guard, but if the Pistons make a serious offer, Reaves will have every reason to consider it.

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