Austin Reaves Indicators Historic $185 Million Deal With Lakers After Breakout NBA Rise

Austin Reaves has formally accomplished some of the exceptional rises in current NBA historical past after agreeing to an enormous new contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.

According to a number of studies, Reaves is re-signing with the Lakers on a four-year, $185 million max contract after declining his $14.9 million participant choice for the 2026-27 season.

Austin Reaves Becomes Highest-Paid

The deal reportedly features a participant choice within the remaining 12 months and is now thought-about the most important contract ever signed by an undrafted participant in NBA historical past.

The new settlement marks an enormous milestone for Reaves, who entered the NBA with out being chosen within the 2021 Draft.

After taking part in school basketball at Wichita State and Oklahoma, he joined the Lakers as a free agent and slowly labored his method into changing into one of many staff’s most necessary gamers.

Reaves delivered one of the best season of his profession throughout the 2025-26 marketing campaign. According to USA Today, the 28-year-old averaged 23.3 factors, 5.5 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per sport whereas capturing 49 p.c from the sector in 51 appearances.

Despite struggling an indirect damage late within the season that prompted him to overlook the beginning of the playoffs, his total efficiency helped persuade the Lakers to make a long-term dedication.

Lakers Keep Austin Reaves

The contract additionally highlights how dramatically Reaves’ worth has modified in just some years.

Because of NBA wage cap guidelines tied to restricted free company, the guard had beforehand signed a a lot smaller four-year deal price lower than $54 million, CBS reported.

At the time, the Lakers had been restricted in how a lot they might provide him below the league’s collective bargaining settlement.

Now, Reaves has secured a full max-level contract after reportedly attracting robust curiosity from a number of groups across the league, together with the Detroit Pistons. Reports prompt that different franchises had been additionally ready to pursue him aggressively in free company.

The transfer offers the Lakers a robust long-term backcourt pairing alongside Luka Dončić, who signed his personal contract extension with the staff final 12 months.

Meanwhile, uncertainty nonetheless surrounds the way forward for LeBron James, who is anticipated to change into one of many largest names on this offseason’s free-agent market.