Lakers' Salary Cap After Austin Reaves' Reported Contract amid LeBron Rumors Before Free Agency

The Los Angeles Lakers are still waiting for star forward LeBron James to decide on his future in the NBA, but they addressed one of their other top priorities this offseason.

Per ESPN's Shams Charania, the Lakers re-signed star guard Austin Reaves to a four-year, $185 million maximum contract that includes a player option for the 2029-30 season.

According to Spotrac, the Lakers had $79.9 million in maximum possible salary cap space. ESPN's Bobby Marks revealed that Reaves' new deal "has no impact on the Lakers' cap flexibility this summer" because his $20.9 million cap hold has already been taken into account. His new deal reportedly won't be signed until after the Lakers "exhaust" their salary cap room.

ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported on Sunday that the Lakers have been in touch with James' representatives, but they still remain unclear on whether he will return to Los Angeles, test the open market as a free agent, or retire. Shelburne said that James "has not even fully committed to returning next year in these conversations. The conversations were described to me as, 'We're keeping in touch.'"

Keith Smith of Spotrac provided the breakdown for Reaves' contract over the next four years:

Charnia noted that Reaves had declined his $14.9 million player option for the 2026-27 season to become a free agent. He likely would've had a robust market of interested teams, but the Lakers wasted no time in retaining him before free agency officially opens on June 30.

Reaves played in 51 games with 45 starts this past season and ranked second on the Lakers with 23.5 points per game. He also added 4.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.1 steals as the Lakers won the Pacific Division with a 53-29 record. He was hampered by an oblique injury and only played in six playoff games as Los Angeles was eliminated in the second round by the Oklahoma City Thunder in a four-game sweep.

In five seasons, Reaves has developed into one of the Lakers' most important players. He proved that he could produce consistently while playing alongside James, and he quickly developed a friendship and on-court chemistry with star guard Luka Doncic since his arrival to Los Angeles a year and a half ago.

The Lakers are certainly hoping that James will return to keep the band together for the 2026-27 season, but re-signing Reaves is an early sign of positivity as they try to improve their roster over the summer.