Shams: Austin Reaves Getting $60M-70M Contract Would Be ‘Tough’ For Lakers to Match

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Austin Reaves has blossomed over the second half of the 2022-23 season with the Los Angeles Lakers, and he’s now expected to receive a lucrative contract in free agency this summer.

The 24-year-old will be a restricted free agent after the 2022-23 campaign and holds a qualifying offer worth $2 million, per Spotrac. The most the Lakers can offer him is four years and $51 million.

If other teams offer Reaves more than $51 million, the Lakers may not have much hope in retaining the shooting guard.

The Athletic and Stadium’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday during an appearance on FanDuel TV that it would be “tough” for the Purple and Gold to match a $60 million to $70 million contract offer for Reaves.

Charania reported last month that a four-year, $50 million deal for Reaves was “increasingly looking like his marketplace.”

“When you think about other teams, they can go higher than that,” Charania said. “They can give him a poison pill offer sheet … but the Lakers can match that because he is a restricted free agent.”

Reaves has flourished in his second season with the Purple and Gold, averaging 13.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 64 games while shooting 52.9 percent from the floor and 39.8 percent from deep.

Since returning from a hamstring strain in early February, he has been even more impressive, averaging 15.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 28 games while shooting 57.2 percent from the floor and 45.1 percent from beyond the arc.

The Lakers have just four players under contract for the 2023-24 season in LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Jarred Vanderbilt and Max Christie. So, they do have some room to re-sign Reaves on a reasonable deal.

Jovan Buha of The Athletic reported last month that the two sides had interest in a new contract and Reaves told Charania Monday that he wanted to spend his entire career with the Purple and Gold.

“I wanna be a Laker,” Reaves said. “Obviously, they gave me the first opportunity. I was a huge Laker fan growing up, big Kobe [Bryant] fan, so honestly, just to be able to play for the Lakers organization is special, and I wanna be a Laker, so hopefully we can get this done, and I can stay there for hopefully my whole career.”

Losing Reaves this summer would be a massive loss for the Lakers, especially as the franchise looks to get back to its dominant ways while James and Davis are still under contract.

The team’s first order of business, though, is getting a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA play-in tournament on Tuesday night.