This offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers will look to retain Austin Reaves through free agency, and it appears that the rising star also wants to stay in the city.
After the Nuggets eliminated the Lakers from the Western Conference finals on Monday, Reaves told reporters on Tuesday that he wanted to remain with the team.
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“I want to be here,” Reaves said, via Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. “It feels like home.”
Reaves, 24, is about to enter restricted free agency after just finishing the final season of his two-year, $2.488 million contract with the Lakers. Los Angeles will still be able to match any offer sheet made for the player.
According to recent reports, the Lakers may be priced out of the Reaves sweepstakes this offseason. The highest offer Los Angeles could make to Reaves is a four-year, $50.1 million contract; however, NBA insider Marc Stein speculates that this might not be sufficient to fend off interest from other teams.
Reaves made only $1.563 million this season and $925,000 in the 2021–22 season, but he is expected to command a high salary on the open market. Stein said there would “definitely” be a few teams willing to offer more than what the Lakers can pay for Reaves, but that the market has not yet become clear.
Reaves posted season averages of 13.0 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.0 rebounds per game in his breakout campaign as a second-year wing. After the All-Star break, Reaves played in 23 games on average 17.6 points and 5.5 assists, increasing his nightly minutes from 27.9 to 30.4.
During the Lakers’ postseason run, the former undrafted free agent started all 16 games and averaged 16.9 points while shooting an impressive 44.6% from beyond the arc.
