Austin Reaves re-signs with Lakers

Matt Hanifan / NBA / July 1, 2023

Austin Reaves re-signs with Lakers

Austin Reaves, a restricted free agent, has re-signed a four-year, $56 million deal with the Lakers. Shams Charania was the first to report the news Saturday.

RFA Austin Reaves has agreed to return to the Los Angeles Lakers on a four-year, $56 million Early Bird maximum contract, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Agents Aaron Reilly and Reggie Berry of AMR Agency negotiated the new deal to keep Reaves in L.A. long term.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2023

The Lakers used Reaves’ Early Bird Rights to sign the extension before another team could’ve offered a bloated offer sheet; a team with at least $25.5 million in cap space could’ve offered Reaves a deal upwards of $102 million over four years.

But in the end, the Lakers, who are hard-capped, were able to retain one of their most important players from a year ago before it became messy.

In his two seasons with Los Angeles, Reaves, who went undrafted in the 2021 draft, averaged 13.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists on 52.9 percent shooting last year, canning 39.8 percent of his triples on 3.4 attempts per game.

In last year’s playoffs, he was the Lakers’ third-best player behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Reaves averaged 16.9 points on 46.4 percent shooting and 44.3 percent from deep (5.5 3PA), in addition to 4.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.

Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura: A Must Stay for the Lakers

The Lakers have been one of the NBA’s most active teams this free agency: They plucke d Gabe Vincent from the Miami Heat for three years, $33 million; they re-signed Rui Hachimura to three-years, $51 million and D’Angelo Russell for two-years, $37 million; plus inked Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish to minimum contracts while using their biannual exception on Taurean Prince.