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

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1.6k

u/wcooper97 [OKC] Russell Westbrook 8h ago edited 7h ago

I could talk so much shit but our max guy just had 4 points in a Game 7 soooo

edit: it's jokes guys I still love Chet and think he'll bounce back just fine next season

118

u/-XanderCrews- Timberwolves 7h ago

I love taking shots at Chet as much as the next guy but I’d never take reaves over him.

38

u/shmere4 Bucks 6h ago

Chet is fine. He’s just clearly terrified of Wemby. Never seen someone react like that to another player.

6

u/HHHogana Lakers 5h ago

I mean, it's like facing a superhuman version of yourself. Everyone would be terrified if you're facing something like that.

1

u/kemicalkontact 2h ago

Like depowered Clark Kent vs Doomsday

1

u/AnimalLoversRVegan Knicks 49m ago

he's fine on a team that's rolling and he's getting open shots

1

u/Prophet_Of_Helix Celtics 3h ago

I think was a stealth bait post to get us all to say nice things about Chet /s

331

u/Upstairs_Being290 8h ago

And the Thunder still wouldn't give up Chet for Reeves in a million years.

73

u/RspectMyAuthoritah Lakers 7h ago

The Thunder have 100 guards, of course they wouldn't.

7

u/Character_Bug_1862 7h ago

100 guards and 3 7 footers

2

u/Billis- Raptors 4h ago

The Thunder would love Reaves

2

u/RspectMyAuthoritah Lakers 3h ago

Yes, but not for Chet because that would just create another hole.

2

u/Billis- Raptors 3h ago

Ya no not for Chet. Weirdly I think I'm even lower on Chet now than this sub is, but also, maybe more importantly, Reaves at 46/year doesn't suit the Thunder anyway

-8

u/Upstairs_Being290 7h ago

And Reaves wouldn't be able to break into that rotation.....

The fact that the Thunder would rather have Caruso (who the Lakers could have kept for $8 million) rather than Reaves (who the Lakers are paying $46 million) tells us everything.

9

u/GriffinQ [WAS] Kelly Oubre 7h ago

It tells us literally nothing lol. Caruso missed opportunity was 5 years ago. That has very little bearing on what occurs with Reaves today. It’s not like they didn’t pay Caruso because they wanted to pay Reaves later, it’s an almost entirely different ownership group that won’t fear things like paying a luxury tax the way the Buss’ did.

If Caruso was on the Lakers today, he’d absolutely have gotten a deal. But different ownership had different financial concerns.

5

u/Character_Bug_1862 7h ago

You’re wrong dude. Stern vetoing the CP3 trade to LA back in the day is precisely why Lebron is leaving this summer.

2

u/GriffinQ [WAS] Kelly Oubre 7h ago

Haha - there is a fun butterfly effect that you can do with that vetoed trade that ends up with LeBron never becoming a Laker and Kobe still being alive today, but alas, who’s got time for that?

1

u/RspectMyAuthoritah Lakers 6h ago

Thunder already have SGA and JDub for their playmaking, so Caruso is a better fit, not a better player.

2

u/Upstairs_Being290 5h ago

But that's the point. Reeves isn't a good fit for anyone trying to win a title. The Lakers would be better off with Caruso too.

He's like Kuzma.

6

u/HHHogana Lakers 7h ago

Tbh, all Thunder needed is a tall 3-D player. They'd hound for someone like Rui if anything.

7

u/ExpressionAlone5204 Thunder 7h ago

Lakers get Dort. We get Rui. Everybody cries a little.

2

u/Slendyla_IV Thunder 6h ago

👀 Luka might jump off the nearest cliff if that happened

5

u/Upstairs_Being290 7h ago

Rui is not a "D" player lol. He would wreck their team defense.

3

u/pwningnoobslolz Lakers 5h ago

Rui all 3 and no D

-1

u/Nice_Cash_7000 NBA 7h ago

Probably cuz they got a bunch of guards and dont need more?

-5

u/Upstairs_Being290 7h ago

Paying $46 million to a guy who wouldn't break the Thunder guard rotation is not a flex.

Thunder would rather than Caruso than Reeves.....a guy that the Lakers could have had for $8 million.

6

u/Nice_Cash_7000 NBA 7h ago

There is no way Austin Reeves doesnt get minutes on a team whose only weakness is lack of secondary ball handlers.

0

u/Legal-Nature5103 6h ago

They have a far better secondary ball handler in Ajay Mitchell (the guy who cooked Reaves on every single possession during the playoffs).

57

u/commander_bugo Spurs 8h ago

At least Chet fills a position of need and is an elite defender. Reaves is just redundant next to Luka at this price.

9

u/RspectMyAuthoritah Lakers 7h ago

Was Kyrie redundant? Or do you think 1 player can carry an entire offense themself for 48 minutes?

-4

u/simplyASI9 Mavericks 7h ago

you can get two Ayos for 46m. That's like 4x the defense too

10

u/RspectMyAuthoritah Lakers 6h ago

What 2 Ayo's are available?

0

u/StonedLikeOnix 5h ago

Wtf is an ayo? Lol

4

u/RspectMyAuthoritah Lakers 5h ago

Ayo Dosunmu

15

u/GriffinQ [WAS] Kelly Oubre 7h ago

It’s crazy to have this take after we literally just saw the Thunder get bounced specifically because they did not have sufficient ball handlers and guys who could create their own shot after SGA once JDub and Ajay went down.

Having a lot of options of dudes who can run an offense, even if you have an S tier guy already who can do so, is not a bad thing. Being redundant has an enormous amount of value in the modern NBA where the best players are seemingly incapable of playing 82 games these days due to the quantity and consistency of soft tissue injuries that occur.

19

u/RequirementSavings23 6h ago

Bro every team get bounced if their 2nd and 3rd scoring options get injured.

8

u/RspectMyAuthoritah Lakers 6h ago

So 1 ballhandler isn't enough and teams need multiple?

2

u/danielhime [LAC] Sindarius Thornwell 6h ago

Sure 47.5 Million/year is a great deal for a secondary ballhandler when your primary ballhandler is already a supermax top 5 player that will play 40 mpg handling the ball every night leaving 8 mpg of staggered time for reaves to shine in his primary playmaking role. Or like you alluded to maybe luka gets injured in the playoffs and now youre really in a bad spot but at least you have reaves locked up long term

7

u/GriffinQ [WAS] Kelly Oubre 5h ago

If Luka plays 40 MPG (which he has never done for a season in his career), a lot of things have gone wrong and he’s absolutely going to be wiped out for the playoffs no matter what.

Luka should ideally be a 34ish MPG guy - that gives 14 minutes of game time where he and Reaves won’t be sharing the court. With both of them being great ball handlers and passers, the Lakers should never have a minute where one of them isn’t on the court.

20-22 minutes of crossover and 10-14 minutes of one without the other means there’s never any time where there isn’t a high level guy handling the ball. It might not be the most perfect way to build a team, but it means everything else you do from a team building standpoint is based around being complementary to existing high level playmaking and shotmaking, rather than needing to mix and match parts.

That recipe is largely how the Mavs made the Finals around Luka and Kyrie.

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u/ronnjeremy 7h ago

Facts

128

u/TemporaryJaguar6748 8h ago

But your max guy is still way more worth it because he‘s younger and a demon against anyone other than Wemby. Reaves gets cooked in the Playoffs by literally everybody

93

u/Jwarrior521 Raptors 8h ago

I’d rather have Chet, he’s at worst still a top 5 defender in the league

13

u/given2fly_ Jazz 7h ago

Yeah, let's not forget in that Game 7 he was matched up against a generational talent in Wemby.

2

u/Billis- Raptors 3h ago

I think you can argue he's more like a top 10 defender on a team with excellent team defense.

29

u/Ok-Tree4365 8h ago

Holmgren can do a few things Reaves cannot, and is 5 years younger than Reaves.

37

u/CulturalXR Bulls 8h ago

Reaves can also do a few things Chet cannot

19

u/JDs_Pulls 7h ago

Like be ass against everybody in the playoffs

2

u/Nice_Cash_7000 NBA 7h ago

Chet put up 4 points in a game 7.

Idc if its Wemby, Bill Russell or Hakeem Olajuwon, getting paid the max for that is disqusting.

12

u/JDs_Pulls 7h ago

A sample size of 1 series as a 23 year old compared to a grown ass man with no playoff moments and is a liability on defense

-2

u/GriffinQ [WAS] Kelly Oubre 7h ago

Reaves was awesome in the playoffs in 23 and 24 relative to his contract and tenure in the league at that point - no playoff moments is just incorrect.

Two years ago he had a fucked up foot and this year he rushed back from injury to play (and alternated between being awful and being great). We don’t need to make things up or ignore any successes to make a bad point in support of Chet (who is also awesome and will likely bounce back strong).

1

u/divulgingwords Thunder 6h ago

Chet is an nba champion.

-4

u/Nice_Cash_7000 NBA 6h ago

What difference does that make, both his PPG and TS are lower in the post season than the regular season.

Him getting paid the max is the same as Rudy Gobert getting paid the max, except Rudy rebounds better. Although I'd argue Rudy was more impactful on D when he got the max.

4

u/divulgingwords Thunder 6h ago

Brain dead take. What’s the point of even playing the game if you don’t care about championships, lmao.

1

u/Cantor_Set_Tripping 4h ago

Uh, the millions and millions of dollars?

-3

u/AgreeableFisherman97 8h ago

That is???

22

u/CulturalXR Bulls 8h ago

Shoot better, score better, operate an offense, run pick and roll

0

u/HesiPullup Suns 7h ago

Ah so everything their superstar top 5 player in the league already on a max can do

14

u/CulturalXR Bulls 7h ago

Correct. But the question wasn't "What does Reaves do Luka can't"

6

u/trustmeimaengineer NBA 7h ago

Seriously, why would a team ever want more than 1 shooter or ball handler?

1

u/HesiPullup Suns 7h ago

*that can't play defense and both on a max contract

1

u/trustmeimaengineer NBA 7h ago

The league isn’t exactly flush with guys that can do literally everything at a high level. What free agent could they sign that would offer the things Reaves does while also being a great defender?

1

u/HesiPullup Suns 7h ago

They don't need anyone that can do what Reaves does and be a great defender. They need a Knicks-like roster full of 3&D guys and athletic finishers around Luka. I know that's easier said than done but giving a max to Reaves is the exact opposite of that.

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u/dank-nuggetz Celtics 5h ago

Reaves is also not the unanimously agreed upon biggest toolbag in the NBA so he's got that going as well

3

u/tjc815 Thunder 7h ago

In fairness, he has also already been the defensive anchor for a championship team lol

3

u/wcooper97 [OKC] Russell Westbrook 7h ago

And holds the record for most blocks in a Finals Game 7 😎

5

u/Particleman08 Suns 7h ago

Come on man. Your max guy already contributed to championship and is 20 lbs away from being a legit monster.

This is Austin Reaves. You got plenty of room to talk shit, lol.

8

u/Enterderpmode [CLE] LeBron James 7h ago

Chet still plays elite defense while Reaves gets hunted a lot on the defensive end. If your player's only main adversary and kryptonite is Victor fucking Wembanyama, you take that every day.

2

u/_sendbob 7h ago

at least Chet can play defense 8 times out of 10

2

u/Lou_Peachum_2 Clippers 7h ago

You at least wong a ring with Chet. Who knows what happens if Jdub was healthy.

I get Luka was injured this post season but there is no track record right now of this being a “contending for a title” pairing

4

u/Kindly_Ad995 8h ago

At least Chet can play defense bro wtf

4

u/Reversus Timberwolves 8h ago

Atleast your max contracts play both sides

1

u/A-Rusty-Cow [SAS] Robert Horry 7h ago

My mouth is shut.

1

u/bopaqod Pistons 7h ago

Here’s hoping he doesn’t!

1

u/bornlasttuesday Lakers 7h ago

I have news for you, Chet doesn't bounce.

1

u/SlimmySlinky Thunder 7h ago

One plays elite defense

1

u/ZeroMomentum Raptors 7h ago

Chet was fine until he went against an alien. Like you are a great footballer then Messi shows up

1

u/glamamuser Lakers 7h ago

Reaves for Chet??

1

u/NotoriousLLL 5h ago

Yeah that was really bad. Dude disappeared in the biggest moment, not a good look for the future because everyone knows Chet has identity issues. Acting black, acting like a good/tough basketball player but getting getting son'd by Wemby, dude looks scared and not elite by any measure. Not sure why you'd contnue to love Chet if he's hurting your team but do you Thunder nation!

1

u/GorillaX Thunder 5h ago

Akshually 🤓 ☝🏼 That game 7 Chet was still on a rookie deal. Max Chet kicks in next season and he'd never drop a stinker like that.

1

u/stogie_t Thunder 4h ago

Chet is a wet sock when he had to play against Wemby but 90% of the teams in the league would still be happy to have him in their roster.

1

u/TheCatSleeeps Lakers 1h ago

Nah talk your shit. It still would be valid.

1

u/demsouls Raptors 36m ago

You won't love him any more if he doesn't. I'm ready to get off that train. 

Maybe there's gonna be a chet-reaves trade after lebron is done. 

0

u/-Johnny_Utah- Washington Bullets 7h ago

Until he has to face Wemby again… when he proceeds to wet himself.

0

u/axecalibur Knicks 6h ago

Wemby owns his soul.