How Lakers Can Land Austin Reaves Contract, Maximize Salary Cap Space amid Rumors

Few players, if any, have raised their profile higher in the early goings of the 2025-26 NBA season than Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves.

And that's saying something, since his rise from undrafted hidden gem to near-star starter had all played out under the Hollywood spotlight.

Still, there were some questions about what his future held—and where it should play out. Since he entered the Association as a 23-year-old, it was fair to wonder whether he was already close to exhausting his growth potential. And since he has tended to do much of his best work with the ball in his hands, he didn't seem like the ideal co-star to slot alongside LeBron James and Luka Dončić.

Well, the growth concerns are officially out the window. In fact, every time he takes the floor, he seemingly raises his ceiling higher. In the past week alone, he's had one outing with 11 assists against one turnover; another with 51 points, 11 boards and nine dimes; another with 41 points on 59.1 percent shooting; and, finally, a 28-point, 16-assist performance punctuated by a game-winner.

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His star is fully illuminated, and who knows, maybe it'll manage to get even brighter. So, that part of the discussion is closed.

As for the fit, those questions haven't gone away, because they haven't been raised yet. James is still awaiting his season-debut due to a bout with sciatica, while finger and leg injuries have sidelined Dončić for the Purple and Gold's past three contests. There is, admittedly, almost assuredly a direct correlation between those absences and Reaves' expanded stat lines.

Can he be this productive when the Lakers' stars return? Almost certainly not. He has a 32 percent usage rate at the moment, per Basketball-Reference, and that volume of opportunities just won't exist when there are other, higher-profile mouths to feed.

Still, this intel is invaluable. It proves that Reaves is more than a solid complementary piece. He looks like a legitimate star in his own right—34.2 points, 10 assists and a league-leading 10.4 free throws per night—and that should be enough to lock him into the long-term plans.

Now, there might be a case for the Lakers to try to sell high on his quick start, particularly since his future is unsettled with only a $14.9 million player option (that he'll easily decline) left on his contract after this season. To get a feel for his market, ESPN's Tim Bontemps reported the expectation around the league is "that $30 million per year is the absolute baseline for Reaves' services."

If Reaves continues performing at a remotely close level to this, even that's probably not enough to get his signature on a new deal. And that could complicate L.A.'s long-term financial outlook, which looks pretty pristine at the moment.

Sacrificing some of that flexibility is worth it to keep Reaves around. Remember, the Lakers will soon have the No. 2 scoring role available—James' career trajectory might give him the appearance of a cyborg, but he'll age out of this league sooner than later—and they'll want a second reliable offensive source to ensure they don't overburden Dončić, who has thrived in similar perimeter partnerships with Jalen Brunson and Kyrie Irving.

The good news is that L.A. has so little money committed to this roster moving forward—it's basically Dončić and rookie-scale contracts after next season—that it can give Reaves a big pay bump without restricting itself too much. And that's a move it has to make, since both parties seem interested in keeping this going.

"He is good and the Lakers intend to keep him and he intends to stay, so my guess is it gets done," one executive told Bontemps.

It's probably going to take a roughly $40 million salary to keep Reaves. The Lakers should be OK with that. They just have to speed up their process of building the roster around him and Dončić first.

Reaves will carry a roughly $21 million cap hold until this summer. L.A. should do everything it can to maximize the rest of its cap space before giving him a huge contract. As long as he knows the payday is coming, he should be on board with the plan.

That should free up the Lakers to fill in their other problem spots first. Maybe they make a run at a restricted free agent center, like Walker Kessler or Jalen Duren. Perhaps they can also push for a three-and-D wing, like Harrison Barnes. Maybe filling a few niche roles would be greedy, but the Lakers could see if they can find a cheap shooter, instant-offense bench scorer or backup big man.

There are ways in which the Lakers can flesh out their supporting cast and then circle back to Reaves with the big pay raise he so clearly deserves. They should be able to do both without exceeding the first apron (about $210 million for next season), meaning they'd avoid all of the roster-building restrictions that designation entails.

Reaves' ascension is unequivocally a good thing for L.A. It'll make adding external talent a bit trickier, but if the Lakers have a pair of an-prime stars leading their roster in Dončić and Reaves, their talent collection will already be in great shape.