Austin Reaves got the deal he wanted, but the road to returning to the Los Angeles Lakers wasn’t nearly as straightforward as many expected.
After agreeing to a four-year, $185 million contract to remain in Los Angeles, Reaves admitted there were multiple points during negotiations when he genuinely believed his future could be elsewhere.
Reaves revealed just how uncertain the process became.
“A couple of times actually,” Reaves said speaking with Dan Woike of The Athletic. “I didn’t know how negotiations would go. I don’t think Aaron and Reggie really knew how negotiations would go, so we learned a lot throughout the process. But like I said, we wanted to be in L.A., my heart was in L.A., and we got it done.”
Although both sides ultimately reached an agreement, the extended negotiations created plenty of stress for the Lakers guard, who admitted the uncertainty became difficult to handle.
“I didn’t like it,” Reaves told The Athletic. “It was weird. It just was, I mean, it’s just a lot of ‘What ifs.’ I just like to know where I’m going to be.”
That anxiety finally disappeared once the contract was finalized, allowing Reaves to enjoy his offseason without constantly thinking about his future.
“I mean, it was a breath of fresh air because I hadn’t stopped thinking about where I was going to be. And it’s just like a sigh of relief,” he said in a phone interview Wednesday. “I mean, regardless of whatever played out, I’m obviously grateful and in a good position to take care of the people I love. My heart’s been in L.A. Every morning I wake up, I’m just like, ‘I hope we can get this done today.’
“And even if I was frustrated through the process when we (weren’t) getting the numbers we wanted, the next morning I woke up, it was still the same thing: ‘Hopefully we can get this done today.’”
The new deal makes Reaves the highest-paid undrafted player in NBA history and secures another major piece of the Lakers’ future.
With both Reaves and Luka Doncic now committed long term, Los Angeles can fully shift its focus toward building a roster capable of competing for championships.
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