Austin Reaves is widely expected to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and is set for a massive payday. Reaves will be eligible to sign a five-year, $241 million max contract with the Los Angeles Lakers if he opts out of his $14.9 million player option for 2026-27, but franchise legend Michael Cooper hopes he will settle for less.
Cooper was asked whether the Lakers should sign Reaves to a max contract if it comes to that during an interview with the Lakers on SI’s Ryan Ward.
“In order to keep him, that’s what you’re going to have to do,” Cooper said. “Again, but again, if Luka is about winning, I mean, if [Reaves] is about winning, then he has to accept a little less money to get another player. But if you think that you’re a max player, you don’t play with the same team you had last year, you’re going to get the same results. You’re going to come up a little short.
“So again, in our era, players used to take a little less money so that they could help the organization achieve that maximum player,” Cooper continued. “So that, you know, because if you don’t, you’ve got to look at San Antonio. It’s a team you are going to have to go through in order to win a championship. And can you go through, can you beat them with the players that you had last year? I don’t think so.
“Those are some of the things that you have to evaluate,” Cooper added. “And I think the Lakers are looking at that, and they got a couple of A, B and C plans ready and they’ll be ready for it. But again, it all depends on AR. You want the whole thing or you want a little bit to help and get that most important prize that you probably, your best opportunity to get is going to be the next year or two. And that’s winning a championship.”
Cooper, who won five titles in 12 seasons, makes a fair point that the Lakers aren’t going to win it all if they just run it back. They need to upgrade the roster, and Reaves taking less than the max would help. It has been reported, though, that the 28-year-old is unwilling to take a discount to stay with the Lakers.
Reaves averaged 23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game for the Lakers in 2025-26. He was definitely underpaid last season and the season before, as he is currently on a four-year, $54 million deal.
So, Reaves would be entitled to ask for all the money he can get. The Brooklyn Nets appear to think he’s worth the max they can offer, as they are expected to put a four-year, $178.5 million deal on the table. That’s about $44.6 million a year.
Would Reaves be willing to take less than that yearly to stay with the Lakers? You can’t think of too many instances in NBA history where a player has done that.
Now, what’s interesting here, though, is that signing with the Nets would mean winning isn’t a priority at all for Reaves. They were 22-60 last season and aren’t going anywhere next season, even with him among their ranks.
It has been reported previously that Reaves wants to be in a winning situation, so all these different factors make this a fascinating situation. A return to the Lakers still seems to be the likeliest outcome, but a lot can change between now and free agency.
