Austin Reaves is set to sign a mammoth new $185million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, which will go down as the richest contract for an undrafted player in NBA history.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Reaves will put pen to paper on a four-year maximum extension worth just over $46m per year in LA, which includes a player option for the final season in 2029-30.
The 28-year-old shooting guard, who was picked up by the Lakers after going undrafted in 2021, reportedly declined his $14.9m player option for the new max deal.
He was reportedly expected to receive free-agent interest from several teams, including the Detroit Pistons, on a maximum-level salary, which forced the Lakers into negotiating a record contract to lock in their homegrown talent.
His agents, Aaron Reilly and Reggie Berry of AMR Agency, are said to have worked through negotiations over the last 10 days after teams were allowed to negotiate with their own free agents.
Last season Reaves appeared in a career-low 51 games due to injury while averaging 23.3 points on 49 percent shooting, with 5.5 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals.
Austin Reaves is set to sign a mammoth new $185million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers
The shooting guard’s return is one of several priorities for the Lakers in their offseason rebuild, as well as the future of LeBron James
He missed the start of LA’s first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets, but returned to average 20.0 points and 5.8 assists in six postseason games before their second-round elimination by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Before getting their offseason rebuild underway, Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka had made it clear that Reaves’ return was a priority for them.
‘He started his journey here as a Laker and has made it very clear to us that he wants his journey to continue as a Laker,’ Pelinka said. ‘We want his odyssey to continue to unfold in the Purple and Gold.’
Another priority for the Lakers this offseason is the future of star man LeBron James, who has a big decision to make regarding his intention for next season.
LeBron, 41, just wrapped up his eighth year with the team in 2025-26, but is now an unrestricted free agent after completing a two-year, $101.35m deal.
According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, the basketball legend is not ‘fully committed’ to returning to LA for a ninth season.
‘So LA is the first team he can talk to since he’s their free agent,’ Shelbourne said Sunday. ‘My understanding is that they had initial conversations with LeBron James’ representative, but he has not even fully committed to returning next year in these conversations.
‘The conversations were described to me as “we’re keeping in touch.” Okay, so there’s no commitment to even returning or salary figures being discussed.’
