Austin Reaves has enjoyed a solid sophomore season with the Los Angeles Lakers and has really impressed in the last few weeks.
He looks set for a nice payday of around $50 million over four years, but former NBA player Rashad McCants doesn’t think he deserves it.
“But y’all giving it to him cause one he white and one he playing with the Lakers and they trash,” said McCants. “So it’s like, if the Lakers ain’t trash, he ain’t playing.”
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To say one of the reasons Reaves is getting that deal is because he is white is unfair. The money is hardly an outrageous sum in today’s NBA and his play does merit a contract along those lines. In March, Reaves is averaging 17.8 PPG, 5.9 APG, and 3.4 RPG while shooting 53.0% from the field.
The Lakers also have a much better team after the trades they made before the deadline and he is still getting significant time on the court, so McCant’s other point doesn’t really hold up either. The one advantage that Reaves does have is that he is on the Lakers, which gives him more exposure, than if he was on some smaller market team. We see that with someone like Jarred Vanderbilt, who was hardly ever talked about by the average NBA fan or the media but is now hailed as one of the best defenders in the league after being traded to the Lakers.
Austin Reaves Is Expected To Receive Multiple Offers In Free Agency
Whether McCants likes it or not, Reaves is going to get his money and might get even a bit more, as he is expected to receive multiple offers in free agency. He has pretty solid fundamentals and has shown an ability to consistently get to the foul line, both qualities that NBA teams value highly.
Reaves being an unrestricted free agent means the Lakers can match any offer he gets from another team. They do seem to rate him highly but we have seen the Lakers let players like Alex Caruso leave in free agency. The fanbase was furious when Caruso was let go and it’d be a lot worse if Reaves leaves this summer.
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