Is Austin Reaves Pricing Himself Out of a Return to the Lakers?

Nov 2, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) shoots against Miami Heat center/forward Bam Adebayo (13) and guard Davion Mitchell (45) during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images | Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

Los Angeles Lakers combo guard Austin Reaves has leveled up this year. Will it cost the Lakers more than they can afford to bring him back next summer?

The 6-foot-5 Oklahoma product, 27, has been on a tear of late. Across his seven healthy games for the Lakers this year, Reaves has been averaging 31.1 points on .489/.344/.903 shooting splits, 9.3 assists, and 5.1 rebounds a night.

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Reaves did sit out a shorthanded LA's most recent game, an improbable 123-115 win against the Portland Trail Blazers, due to a groin issue, but the hope is that won't cause him to miss too many further matchups, per Dan Woike of The Athletic.

Without Reaves, Luka Doncic, LeBron James, or Gabe Vincent available among the Lakers' rotation players, the team still managed to pull off an improbable victory.

In their absence, center Deandre Ayton walloped his old team with a 29-point, 10-rebound masterpiece. Power forward Riu Hachimura scored 28 points of his own, and a two-way player, guard Nick Smith Jr., scored 25 points (on 10-of-15 shooting) and dished out six assists off the Lakers' bench.

Los Angeles is now 6-2 on the year, despite James having missed all eight of those games and Doncic having sat out four.

Reaves' Free Agent Market, Projected

Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN report that Reaves is expected to fetch a pretty penny in free agency next summer, provided he declines his $14.9 million team option as he's expected to do.

According to Bontemps and Windhorst, the "absolute baseline" for Reaves' new annual salary is expected to be $30 million. He may have surpassed that sticker tag already.

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A league executive has speculated that Reaves could fetch a four-year $180 million offer in free agency from a rival team, but thinks that the Lakers could retain him if they pitch him a new deal worth that much, even over five years.

"I don't think he's going to quite keep up this pace because LeBron will take away touches," the executive posited, "but he is good and the Lakers intend to keep him and he intends to stay, so my guess is it gets done."

For more news and notes on the Los Angeles Lakers, visit Los Angeles Lakers on SI.