It was quite an incredible first day of free agency for the Los Angeles Lakers. They managed to acquire Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, and Cam Reddish while also re-signing Rui Hachimura.
While these moves were pretty good, the Lakers are yet to seal their biggest move coming into free agency, re-signing Austin Reaves. It appears they have already offered him the max they can, as per Jovan Buha, but Reaves is still assessing his options.
“The Lakers made an offer for four years, $52 million, the most that they could offer Austin, when free agency began,” Buha said. “But he’s taking his time evaluating the market. I think Houston was a potential suitor, they obviously just signed Fred VanVleet to the first max contract of the offseason, so I think you can probably check them off.”
The Rockets certainly had the cap space to put a big offer on the table for Reaves but they chose to sign Fred VanVleet to a three-year, $130 million contract. It leaves just one other team potentially in the mix for Reaves as per Buha.
“San Antonio is the other one that I reported had been interested in Austin,” Buha continued. “So I think it’s just a matter of him waiting out the market for a day or two, seeing if someone is going to offer him a bigger contract than the Lakers can, and if not, signing that max from L.A. for about four years $52 million. So, the Lakers control Austin’s destiny, they control his future, and from everything I’ve been told they’re going to match any contract he signs.”
(starts at 2:55 mark)
.@jovanbuha of @TheAthletic breaks down the @Lakers free agent moves so far:
Signing:@rui_8mura @iamgabevincent2 @camreddish@taureanprince
Jovan says Lakers are in position to sign both Austin Reaves & @Dloading
Here's more from @FOXLA: pic.twitter.com/pWR7qkGkEK
— Elex Michaelson (@Elex_Michaelson) July 1, 2023
NBA insider Marc Stein had also reported that the Lakers would be willing to match any offer for Reaves, even if it did get close to $100 million over four years. The way things are going though, it doesn’t look like they’ll have to commit to anywhere near that much on him.
Austin Reaves Shone For The Lakers After The All-Star Break
Colin Cowherd believes the Lakers are delusional for being willing to match those kinds of offers for Reaves, but are they really? After the All-Star break, he averaged 17.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 5.5 APG, 0.5 SPG, and 0.2 BPG while shooting 57.8% from the field and 44.3% from beyond the arc.
You won’t find too many players who can put up those numbers while being that efficient from the field. He is not a superstar by any means but considering the salaries that are being handed out these days, it wouldn’t be a massive overpay either. He showed he was capable of stepping into a bigger role last season and should only improve in the years to come.
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