Lakers News: Reporter Believes East Lottery Club Could Make Bid For Austin Reaves
Most of your Los Angeles Lakers will hit some kind of free agency this week.
Three players -- shooting guard Malik Beasley, center Mo Bamba, and point guard Shaquille Harrison -- are inked to team options that LA seems likely to decline, which would let them become unrestricted free agents. Others are already on track to reach unrestricted or restricted free agency, though there has been some chatter of a few players inking veteran's extensions.
By far, the belles of the ball when it comes to Los Angeles' free agents are restricted free agents Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, and among that duo, Reaves seems likeliest to receive the bigger payday.
Per James Edwards III of The Athletic, the 6'5" swingman would be an excellent fit on the Detroit Pistons, and Edwards is convinced it's quite likely that the team will make a run at him this summer. To be fair, he'd be an excellent fit on a lot of rosters.
Detroit, which has a ton of young players still signed to rookie deals, will have enough space under the salary cap to offer Reaves the full four-year, $98.7 million maximum deal a rival team could tender his way. As Edwards reports, LA is most likely to match any amount offered to him, and I'm sure is hoping that no team goes quite that far price-wise. But as a playmaking two-way perimeter option who now has a terrific playoff run under his belt, Reaves is going to attract plenty of suitors, driving up his price to something probably in that range.
After the All-Star break, Reaves averaged 17.6 points on 73.4% true shooting, 5.5 dimes, and 3.1 boards through till the end of the regular season. During the playoffs, he logged 16.9 points on .464/.443/.895 shooting splits, 4.6 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 0.6 steals a night in 16 contests.
Are you following us on Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube yet? Join the conversation as we discuss the latest Lakers news and rumors with fans like you!
