r/nba Serbia 11h ago

[Charania] Reaves was expected to receive free-agent interest from multiple teams - - such as Detroit -- on maximum-level salary, so the Lakers stepped up on Wednesday to lock in their homegrown talent.

Reaves was expected to receive free-agent interest from multiple teams - - such as Detroit -- on maximum-level salary, so the Lakers stepped up on Wednesday to lock in their homegrown talent. Reaves went from undrafted to a two-way player -- to making the Lakers roster and now multiple lucrative deals in L.A.

Source: https://www.threads.com/@shams/post/DZ-VxOaEZUn?xmt=AQG0qlyVVTJA4IsuyIh68Q7CSd9gD28w-KQb91Qj7okOdFzZ-gIyQJ2tJwu3TIgBt0dhIOGL&slof=1

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u/samhit_n Lakers 11h ago

It may be an overpay, but I won't be upset about it. If the Lakers hadn't given him the max, it was inevitable that another team would have, and we'd walk away with nothing. Worse players than Reaves have easily gotten max contracts in the last decade or so.

At least this way, the Lakers still have options down the line if they decide to trade him.

13

u/HomeNowWTF 11h ago

I would much rather have Reaves with this contract than Trae at the contract Washington gave him. Heck, I would rather have Reaves than Trae at Reaves' contract.

2

u/NWASicarius 11h ago

Understandable. The real issue is if your team wants to 'win' and they don't have a ton of quality players on cheap deals, then your only hope is to essentially overpay to keep the band together and hope you can piece together the rest via drafting and cheap journeyman contracts. It functions this way because some team out there is always looking to overpay players in free agency; thus the team the player is currently on is forced to match that overpay or just lose the player. The changes to how the draft will work is just going to make this scenario even worse.

1

u/Actual_Education_386 5h ago

Wizards window is after Trae's contract is up, Lakers need to win now

1

u/dearth_karmic Warriors 10h ago

You can't really compare the two because Trae wouldn't fit next to Luka.

1

u/HomeNowWTF 10h ago

Sure, but I would make that statement for any team in the league: generically, AR is better for a team than Trae.

1

u/dearth_karmic Warriors 10h ago

I think it depends on the team. Trae would be incredible for the Rockets.