{"id":153625,"date":"2025-08-06T15:16:42","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T19:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=153625"},"modified":"2025-08-06T20:16:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T00:16:28","slug":"sources-luka-doncics-robin-is-austin-reaves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/06\/sources-luka-doncics-robin-is-austin-reaves\/","title":{"rendered":"SOURCES: Luka Doncic\u2019s Robin Is Closer Than You Think"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES<\/strong> \u2013 Luka Doncic\u2019s<\/a> contract decision dominated the NBA news cycle this offseason. To the Lakers\u2019 relief, Doncic signed a three-year, $165 million extension<\/a> the moment he became eligible. While his future is now secure, the Lakers still face serious questions. Chief among them: LeBron James<\/a> has yet to decide on his next move. He\u2019s expected to make a decision<\/a> regarding his future before training camp. But perhaps as critical is the looming free agency of Austin Reaves<\/a>. How the Lakers approach Reaves\u2019 next contract will shape their future\u2014and Luka Doncic\u2019s future running mate.<\/p>\n

SOURCES: Luka Doncic\u2019s Robin Is Closer Than You Think<\/h2>\n

Reaves Has Earned His Shot, But the Price Is Rising<\/h3>\n
\"Luka
Feb 10, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) and guard Austin Reaves (15) react after a basket against the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reaves averaged 20.2 points and 5.8 assists last season while shooting 37% from deep over his career. He\u2019s gone from an undrafted rookie to a foundational player for the Lakers. According<\/a> to ESPN Insiders, one executive said, \u201cI think he will get $30 [million] plus,\u201d referring to Reaves\u2019 potential market value. That view was echoed by several others across the league.<\/p>\n

Retaining Austin Reaves would secure the Lakers\u2019 backcourt of the future, placing him in the co-star role next to Luka Doncic. This would continue Doncic\u2019s recent trend of developing dynamic guard pairings. Doncic previously shared backcourts with elite names\u2014Jalen Brunson<\/a> and Kyrie Irving<\/a>. Reaves could be next in line. Brunson just led the Knicks<\/a> to their first conference finals appearance in 25 years. Irving is still a top-tier scorer. Reaves has yet to reach All-Star status, but he\u2019s not far off.<\/p>\n

Reaves Still Has Something to Prove<\/h3>\n

The pairing of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves isn\u2019t just theoretical. League executives increasingly view it as inevitable. But Reaves must show he\u2019s capable of being a true playoff contributor.<\/p>\n

He struggled in the Lakers\u2019 first-round exit to the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>. Reaves shot just 31.9% from three and averaged nearly three turnovers per game. “This is a big season for him,” a Western Conference assistant told ESPN. \u201cHe\u2019d better bring it in the playoffs, because he\u2019s got to be good enough [to pair with Doncic].\u201d<\/p>\n

Reaves still has time to change the narrative. His offensive versatility, pick-and-roll polish, and three-point shooting could make him the ideal running mate for Doncic.<\/p>\n

Financial Realities Could Complicate Things<\/h3>\n

The new collective bargaining agreement forces teams to think hard about every big contract. The Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves partnership looks great on paper\u2014but will it make sense on the balance sheet?<\/p>\n

Reaves will hit unrestricted free agency next summer. Teams around the league are watching. The Lakers must decide: do they view Reaves as a true second option, or as a complementary piece? The answer could define how long Doncic stays happy in Los Angeles. And it could determine whether the Lakers make a deep run in the next few seasons\u2014or fall apart under the weight of bad decisions.<\/p>\n

LOS ANGELES \u2013 Luka Doncic\u2019s contract decision dominated the NBA news cycle this offseason. To the Lakers\u2019 relief, Doncic signed a three-year, $165 million extension the moment he became eligible. While his future is now secure, the Lakers still face serious questions. Chief among them: LeBron James has yet to decide on his next move. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":153628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,26,3],"tags":[4556,1133,2113,4975,297],"class_list":["post-153625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-news","tag-austin-reaves","tag-luka-doncic","tag-nba-contract-extension","tag-nba-contracts","tag-nba-free-agency"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153625"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":153630,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153625\/revisions\/153630"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}