Austin Reaves Signs 4-Year, $185 Million Max With Lakers After Pistons Drove the Price Up
Austin Reaves is staying in Los Angeles, and the Detroit Pistons can take partial credit for that. Reaves agreed to a four-year, $185 million max extension with the Lakers, with the final season including a player option.
This deal almost did not happen. The Lakers’ opening offer was reportedly in the $30 million per year range. Reaves was not happy with it. His camp talked to other teams. The Detroit Pistons were prepared to back up the truck with a max offer of their own.
That is what forced the Lakers’ hand. Once Detroit emerged as a real threat, Los Angeles jumped from $30 million a year to $45 million a year and got the deal done. The Pistons did not land Reaves, but they directly cost the Lakers a lot of additional money.
For Reaves, this is the kind of payday that legitimizes him as a true star. He went undrafted in 2021. He scrapped his way onto the Lakers’ roster as a two-way player. He turned into a 20-point per game scorer and one of the best two way guards in the league. The max contract is the proper reward.
The deal also pays him roughly $41 million in the first year. That is real money, and it changes the Lakers’ cap math for the next four seasons. With LeBron James winding down and Luka Doncic about to become the franchise face, having Reaves locked in long term is critical.
The Pistons made the play because they had to. Detroit had cap room burning a hole in its pocket and a real need at shooting guard. Bringing Reaves to Detroit would have given them a legitimate scoring threat next to Cade Cunningham. The math worked. Reaves did not bite.
Even if Detroit had matched the deal, the Lakers could have offered a sign-and-trade. Reports indicated the Pistons would have had to ship Isaiah Stewart to Los Angeles to make the numbers work. That is the kind of deal that gets complicated quickly.
The bigger story is that Reaves chose Los Angeles. He has spent his entire NBA career building a relationship with LeBron, Luka, and the Lakers’ coaching staff. Free agency was a chance to leave for more money and a fresh start. He chose to stay.
The Lakers are now committed to a three-star core of Luka, LeBron (for now), and Reaves through at least 2028. That is enough to compete in the West. Whether it is enough to win a championship will depend on what JJ Redick can do with the rest of the roster.
Detroit will move on to the next target. The Pistons still have money to spend and a real need at multiple spots. They might not have gotten Reaves, but they made the Lakers pay an extra $60 million to keep him. Sometimes the assist is what matters.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
