The Lakers have agreed with Austin Reaves on a four-year, $185 million contract extension (3+1 format) that will keep the 27-year-old in Los Angeles until 2029, with a player-option to extend it to 2030. Reaves was on the golf course with his girlfriend when he got the news and fell to the floor in “great relief.”
Austin Reaves felt “great relief” when his reps and the Lakers agreed to a four-year, $185 million extension, a source close to Reaves told ESPN. “He wants to be a Laker for life and there’s nothing more important to him than trying to win one for that city,” the source said. pic.twitter.com/aCHdvjL4u8
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) June 24, 2026
“He wants to be a Laker for life, and there’s nothing more important to him than trying to win one for that city,” a source close to Austin Reaves told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
“That’s the picture of a dude that gets more opportunities to win a chip in L.A.,” the source told ESPN on the picture that Reaves’ girlfriend took of him on the golf course.
Following this extension, Reaves spoke to Dan Woike of The Athletic and revealed his feelings on the extension and opened up on his “weird” free agency experience.
“I didn’t like it,” Reaves said on his week-long free agency experience. “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.”
There was a realistic possibility that the Pistons could make a solid offer to Reaves in free agency, so the Lakers decided they would not take the chance and let free agency officially begin on June 30.
Since the team to which a free agent belongs can begin negotiations right after the end of the NBA Finals, the Lakers thought it was best to lock down a deal before any other teams could make an official offer.
“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 on Wednesday while talking about his initial reaction to the news.
“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 Lakers’ guard proved his worth to the team last season when he carried their offense as the second option and stepped up in Luka Doncic’s absence during the regular season. He averaged 23.3 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.7 rebounds while going 49.0% from the field and 36.0% from beyond the three-point line in the 2025-26 regular season.
“It’s going to be fun. And like I said, winning a championship is the main goal,” Reaves said. “And I feel like, you know, with Luka and me, that’s a great starting piece to compete.”
“And when we put a roster together that can go compete, I feel like winning a championship will basically solidify everything that I want and everything that the Lakers want. And it kind of meets the common goal of why they gave me the money they did.”
This deal has made Reaves the 16th highest-earning guard in the league for the 2026-27 season, with an expected salary of $41.3 million. He is ahead of even the reigning MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is set to earn $40.8 million in the coming season before his supermax extension kicks in.
But this reflects how much the Lakers value Reaves in terms of his importance to their long-term plans. It will certainly be interesting to see how the Lakers now build a championship-contending roster around him and Luka Doncic.
