{"id":154866,"date":"2025-08-15T06:30:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T10:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=154866"},"modified":"2025-08-15T00:12:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T04:12:21","slug":"report-lakers-austin-reaves-next-contract-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/15\/report-lakers-austin-reaves-next-contract-rumors\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Lakers Star\u2019s Next Contract May Not Be Farfetched After All"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the futures of <\/span>Luka Doncic<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>LeBron James<\/span><\/a> currently settled, Lakers fans are waiting for <\/span>Austin Reaves<\/span><\/a>\u2019 next move once his contract expires next summer. While the former undrafted guard\u2019s value has become a hot topic as of late, one insider claims he\u2019s worth what the recent projections are saying.<\/span><\/p>\n

Report: Lakers Star\u2019s Next Contract May Not Be Farfetched After All<\/b><\/h2>\n

Jovan Buha: Execs \u201cPenciling In\u201d Reaves as $30M Player<\/b><\/h3>\n

In a recent appearance on Spectrum Sportsnet, Lakers insider Jovan Buha <\/span>said<\/span><\/a> league executives expect Reaves to remain with the Lakers, even if it comes at a steep price.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s more of a $30-35 million a year player. If you look at some of the guys in that range\u2014guys like Immanuel Quickley or Tyler Herro\u2014I think Austin is easily in that class and better, actually, than a lot of the guys in that $30-32 million range. Obviously, context and leverage are always factors here, so we\u2019ll see what type of season he has, what type of playoff performance he has.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople around the league are penciling him in to make $30+ million this summer whether it’s with the Lakers or someone else. I expect it to be with the Lakers. I expect him to re-sign a multi-year deal, and I think that\u2019s the shrewd move from LA\u2019s part.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Buha also reaffirmed Reaves\u2019 commitment to the purple and gold, which Reaves <\/span>addressed earlier this summer<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe wants to be a Laker. He wants to be a Laker for life. Remember, this is a guy that could\u2019ve been drafted and decided to be undrafted so he could sign with the Lakers. \u2026 He obviously re-signed after playing a couple years. Austin wants to be in LA, and I expect that to be the thing. He did turn down the extension, and I expect the next contract to be something like four-years, $120+ million next summer.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Reaves\u2019 Commitment is Laudable, But for $30M Per Year?<\/b><\/h3>\n

While Lakers fans would love for Reaves to stick around, the exact asking price is certainly a head scratcher. <\/span>Immanuel Quickley<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Tyler Herro<\/span><\/a> recently earned similar deals, but they had the scoring <\/span>and <\/span><\/i>the <\/span>accolades to back it up<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last season, Quickley, a 2021 All-Rookie second team selection, signed a <\/span>five-year, $175 million extension<\/span><\/a> with the Toronto Raptors, a deal that holds a yearly salary of <\/span>$32.5 million<\/span><\/a> without incentives. He averaged 17.1 points and 5.8 assists on .420\/.378\/.867 splits despite a rough season in The North. Now, with <\/span>Brandon Ingram<\/span><\/a> making his season debut and Scottie Barnes\u2019 future secure, there\u2019s a chance the <\/span>Raptors could make noise in the East<\/span><\/a>, with Quickley playing a key role.<\/span><\/p>\n

Herro, a prolific scorer in his own right, is coming off a career year that included his first All-Star nod. The 25-year-old put up 23.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game while shooting .472\/.375\/.878 splits. Amid a turbulent season in South Beach, the Heat scraped together a couple of Play-in Tournament wins\u2014before the top-seeded Cavs swept them in the first-round. As the team prepares for its first full season without <\/span>Jimmy Butler<\/span><\/a>, many can expect Herro to live up to the hype and go forward as <\/span>Miami\u2019s first option<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both situations carry similarities and differences to Reaves, who is fresh off his own career year (20.2 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 5.8 APG) despite the Lakers\u2019 first-round loss. Reaves is no doubt worth more than his current $13.9 million salary, but the exact amount, as Buha said, should depend on the coming season\u2019s results.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Jan
Jan 23, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) dribbles the ball against Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday (4) in the second half at the Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2025-26 is Another \u201cProve-It\u201d Year for Reaves<\/b><\/h3>\n

Though Reaves has shown he belongs in the league, the upcoming season will be his biggest test yet, proving he\u2019s worthy of 1) being an elite third option alongside two future Hall of Famers, and 2) earning a hefty payday that justifies his presence once Doncic (and owner Mark Walter) take over.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the futures of Luka Doncic and LeBron James currently settled, Lakers fans are waiting for Austin Reaves\u2019 next move once his contract expires next summer. While the former undrafted guard\u2019s value has become a hot topic as of late, one insider claims he\u2019s worth what the recent projections are saying. Report: Lakers Star\u2019s Next […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":154883,"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":[1608,26,62,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-154866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154866","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\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154866"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154884,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154866\/revisions\/154884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}