The Los Angeles Lakers managed to take care of one of the big items on their offseason to-do list when they signed Austin Reaves to a four-year, $185 million contract extension on Wednesday. The Lakers made it clear from the get-go that they wanted to keep Reaves in town this offseason, and they managed to do so without ever letting him hit the open market.
Should Reaves have found his way to free agency, the expectation across the league was that several teams were going to pursue him. Instead, Los Angeles managed to prevent him from even getting that far, and according to a new report, it sounds like it went “over the top” in order to ensure Reaves would be sticking around.
Lakers Went “Over the Top” to Keep Austin Reaves in Town
Shams said on ESPN that after the NBA Finals, LA’s ownership met with him and not only played his favorite country music, but they had personalized AR-initialed pillows in the meeting.
Reaves is one of the greatest success stories the NBA has seen in recent memory. An undrafted free agent, Reaves has gone from being a gritty rotation player to becoming one of the most important players on the Lakers roster. It’s to the point where Los Angeles made retaining him more of a priority than keeping LeBron James around.
The work Reaves did last season alongside James and Luka Doncic played a big role in the team’s decision to keep him in town. Reaves averaged a career-high 23.3 points per game on 49% shooting from the field in addition to 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game, and the front office has been clear in signaling that it wants to keep him and Doncic in town for the foreseeable future.
The allure of testing the open market certainly could have captivated Reaves, but the Lakers made sure that wouldn’t be a possibility by handing him a max $185 million contract. Money talks, but it sounds like L.A. left nothing to doubt, as it played Reaves’ favorite country music during its meeting with him after the 2026 NBA Finals, while also heaving personalized pillows made for the meeting.
“The Lakers apparently went over the top in their meeting with Austin Reaves to sign him now,” Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints wrote in a post on X. “Shams said on ESPN that after the NBA Finals, LA’s ownership met with him and not only played his favorite country music, but they had personalized AR-initialed pillows in the meeting.”
Lakers’ Work Not Done After Austin Reaves Move
GettyAustin Reaves #15 of the Los Angeles Lakers
Keeping Reaves around is obviously a big first step for the Lakers this offseason, but their work isn’t even close to being done. The front office now has to figure out if it can find a way to extend James’ contract before free agency, and while progress has been made in recent weeks, he still is tracking towards hitting the open market.
Beyond that, Los Angeles has to make upgrades to its current core, with the center position being the biggest area of need. How the front office puts all the pieces of the puzzle together will be very important, especially since it has now committed a large sum of money to Reaves. So while the team did good work here, the offseason is only just getting underway for this team.
Insider Reveals How Lakers Convinced Austin Reaves to Re-Sign Before Free Agency