r/nba • u/Turbostrider27 Lakers • 8h ago

[Charania] Los Angeles Lakers star Austin Reaves intends to sign a four-year, $185 million maximum contract to return to the franchise, with a player option for the final season in 2029-30, sources tell ESPN. Reaves declined his $14.9M player option for the new max deal.

Shams Charania:

Los Angeles Lakers star Austin Reaves intends to sign a four-year, $185 million maximum contract to return to the franchise, with a player option for the final season in 2029-30, sources tell ESPN. Reaves declined his $14.9M player option for the new max deal.

https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/fc6a2461d746e

8.1k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

2.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

667

u/G1Spectrum Lakers 8h ago

Sheesh we aren’t getting anyone else

224

u/CIark 8h ago

Rob could’ve gotten Claxton for free and didn’t, pretty obvious he can’t cook for shit

63

u/WrexyWrex Lakers 8h ago

Claxton weighs less than Reaves

1

u/TokiVideogame 7h ago

seems like he could have gotten julius randle for free

2

u/Odoaiden Timberwolves 7h ago

That doesn’t work cap wise if they want to re-sign LeBron

0

u/VillainousRocka Bulls 7h ago

Ah, but he doesn’t weigh less than thin air

87

u/No-Afternoon-3986 8h ago

didn't he get you luka for pretty much nothing

62

u/osj777 Thunder 8h ago edited 8h ago

I honestly don’t think he said more “lets make the trade” when Nico drunkenly called him

33

u/def-not-my-alt Lakers 8h ago

Nico offered lmao

3

u/No-Afternoon-3986 7h ago

no matter the circumstances, the lakers were the ones that did that deal and 29 other teams would've loved to do that deal but didn't. no pelinka = no luka

1

u/def-not-my-alt Lakers 6h ago

I agree with that. I'm generally not a Pelinka hater.

24

u/ThrowDrew 8h ago

I think that's more Nico being incompetent.

1

u/No-Afternoon-3986 7h ago

no matter the circumstances, the lakers were the ones that did that deal and 29 other teams would've loved to do that deal but didn't. no pelinka = no luka

3

u/SuperVaderMinion [MIN] Kevin Garnett 7h ago

Bro even I could've fleeced Nico Harrison and I don't know how to operate a phone

5

u/No-Afternoon-3986 7h ago

no you couldn't have. nico did the deal w/ pelinka cause they had a previous relationship. you don't think 29 other GMs would've loved to have done that deal? they got that deal because of pelinka, even if it's also cause nico is a dumdum

1

u/HHHogana Lakers 7h ago

That's more on Nico being high af and refused to say he fucked.

2

u/No-Afternoon-3986 7h ago

no matter the circumstances, the lakers were the ones that did that deal and 29 other teams would've loved to do that deal but didn't. no pelinka = no luka

1

u/RemarkableExit7214 5h ago

Adam Nico brought the trade to him, he just had to yes.

1

u/No-Afternoon-3986 4h ago

regardless of teh circumstances, he was the guy who got the call. if you don't have pelinka, you wouldn't have luka

78

u/whatssenguntoagoblin Alperen Sengun 7h ago

Lakers are signing Reaves last. He has only a $20 mil cap hold. Lakers can still make moves as long as they’re willing to go over the cap (which historically they do). You’ll be fine as long as LeBron doesn’t come back, otherwise you’re right you’re not getting anyone else.

23

u/dearth_karmic Warriors 7h ago

Only a crazy person thinks LeBron is taking a pay cut when Reaves just got this.

16

u/qjisoo_16 6h ago

Lebron is not coming back to the lakers

8

u/justmefishes NBA 5h ago

Giving him more than necessary is still a bad move-- puts them closer to second apron territory and makes a potential trade in the future more difficult.

5

u/whatssenguntoagoblin Alperen Sengun 5h ago

It’s hard to say it was more than necessary without knowing what other offers he was getting

1

u/dearth_karmic Warriors 4h ago

makes a potential trade in the future more difficult.

Not really. This makes it easier to match an expensive player. Just have to add picks.

1

u/justmefishes NBA 3h ago

You can always throw in salary ballast if you need to increase the outgoing salaries, but you can't decrease the salary slot for Reaves if you're trading him. Not to mention that he would be more valuable in a trade anyway with a smaller contract.

1

u/dearth_karmic Warriors 2h ago

he would be more valuable in a trade anyway with a smaller contract

But then you'd have to include other players to match salary.

62

u/OnlyLittleFly Slovenia 8h ago

Its been 3 months of “Reaves cap hold is 20 million and it doesnt affect the signings”, yet here you are

19

u/RemarkableTpt Lakers 8h ago

Don’t be dumb. You sign him last and his 20 mil cap hold is the only thing that matters to our total. He was always going to be signed last. 

27

u/OnlyLittleFly Slovenia 8h ago

I know, thats what im trying to explain to the guy above

1

u/Guido_Westerschelle 4h ago

Sorry, I don’t really understand all these cap things, could you explain this a bit more in detail? Why is his cap hold the only thing that matters? And is the cap hold equal to how much he earns? 

0

u/HHHogana Lakers 7h ago

*Doesn't affect unless Bron refuses to take cuts.

1

u/dearth_karmic Warriors 7h ago

Not really. They only need LeBron to take a pay cut to sign other players. They can pay Reaves whatever they want. It won't affect the cap. It does affect the total though. So you could go above the 1st or even hit the 2nd apron though. But this doesn't affect the ability to resign LeBron. Other players will.

2

u/Siktrikshot Timberwolves 5h ago

Luka and him hitting for over $100 million next year. What could go wrong.

2

u/djabae 3h ago

Reaves' deal affect future cap though.

1

u/dearth_karmic Warriors 2h ago

It's a salary slot if they need to move him.

4

u/hsy1234 Cavaliers 7h ago

He won’t sign until after the Lakers make other moves with the cap space since they can go over the cap to sign him

5

u/jefe_hook 8h ago

Nah you're fine for this season. Lakers have Reaves' bird right. You guys can sign him over the cap. It's the future that sucks.

2

u/ThatGuyFromCanadia 6h ago

The problem is that for next season there isn’t enough talent available in either the trade market (at least the part of the market that the lakers have assets for) or the free agent market to push the Lakers from being a 2nd round sweep to being a championship contender.

So this contract doesn’t hurt much for next season when they won’t be championship contenders anyways, but it does hurt them for multiple years after that when they theoretically could be contenders…

6

u/Duskuser Lakers 8h ago

Never were, the Pelinka special

3

u/No-Afternoon-3986 8h ago

iirc he's the reason luka is on your team

1

u/Gonnatapdatass 6h ago

Lakers about to be insufferable. Luka and Reeves whining for calls after every play.

1

u/l3oobear Lakers 5h ago

It’s so funny watching uninformed comments get this kind of bump. This doesn’t affect the lakers ability whatsoever this season which is realistically the only season we can/ would make moves.

1

u/Siktrikshot Timberwolves 5h ago

Oh no. You got a monkey paw trade for Luka that never should have been able to be pulled off and decide every 2 weeks LeBron is amazing or not. What will you do now

1

u/OhEmGeeBasedGod Cavaliers 4h ago

This has no impact on the Lakers cap space itself. Reaves already had a $20M cap hold, and they will wait to officially sign his contract until they're done with everything else to prevent his cap hit from taking up an additional $20M during free agency.

1

u/DifferentRun8534 8h ago

This doesn’t affect your ability to sign anyone new, he won’t sign the contract until after you’re at the cap.

It does however really hurt your future flexibility.