Austin Reaves is officially the highest paid undrafted player in NBA history. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Wednesday that Reaves and the Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to a four year, $185 million deal. The undrafted Oklahoma product just signed the kind of contract usually reserved for top ten picks.
Think about that journey for a second. Reaves went undrafted in 2021. He signed a two way deal with the Lakers. He climbed into the rotation. He became a starter. He outplayed his contract on a series of team friendly extensions. Now he gets the bag. This is the rare LA story where the small market kid actually wins.
The deal was reportedly hammered out over the last ten days, since teams gained the right to negotiate with their own free agents. Reaves was repped by Aaron Reilly and Reggie Berry of AMR Agency. He had outside interest. Brooklyn was reportedly preparing a serious offer. Detroit and Atlanta were both watching closely. The Lakers paid the premium to keep him off the market.
The Lakers had no choice. Luka Doncic needs running mates. LeBron James, if he comes back for one more year, needs reliable scoring around him. Reaves checks every box. He shoots, he plays off the ball, he creates in the pick and roll, and he plays hard on defense even when his physical tools are not elite. Replacing him on the open market would have cost more in the long run.
This is also a contract that proves how broken the old draft based pay system has become. Reaves has started 216 games in five Lakers seasons. He has been a playoff scorer. He has been the guy with the ball in his hands in big moments. The fact that no team called his name on draft night now means very little. The Lakers are paying him like the late lottery pick he should have been.
Around the league, agents will love this. Future undrafted players now have a reference point. Reaves established that the ceiling for non drafted talent is not a mid level exception. It is generational money if you produce. That changes how organizations think about late summer roster spots and two way contracts.
For Lakers fans, this is a win. Reaves has been one of the most consistent producers in the rotation. The chemistry with Doncic is real. Both players thrive in motion offense and both can pass off the bounce. Keeping that pairing together gives LA a foundation to build on regardless of what LeBron decides.
The cap implications matter though. The Lakers are now committed to a Doncic, Reaves, and presumably LeBron core that will push into the second apron. That limits roster building tools. Mid level exceptions get harder to use. Trades get more complicated. The team had better be sure this trio can win at the level the spending requires.
There is still a LeBron decision pending. If LeBron returns on a one year deal, the Lakers run it back. If he leaves, the Reaves money becomes part of the foundation the team rebuilds around with Doncic. Either path is now locked in around Reaves and Luka.
For Reaves, the rest is gravy. Five years ago he was a kid hoping to make a summer league roster. Now he is a centerpiece on the most valuable franchise in the league. Hard to write a better story.
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.
