Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
“AR had a fantastic season last year, well-deserving of the contract he got and everything,” Grimes said on 710 AM ESPN L.A. with Mason & Ireland. “He’s one of the best scorers in the NBA, probably. Walker (Kessler), you know, is one of the best rim protectors. I know he only played like four or five games last year, but everybody knows what he does. Nobody wants to go in that paint, 7’2” guy he’s going to block shots. He’s going to give us a definite advantage because people aren’t gonna go in that paint, so we can guard and put pressure on the ball even more knowing we got big Walker down in the paint holding it down. “We got guys like Collin (Sexton), a dog. (Sandro) Mamu, a dog, already getting out here and getting work in. So, it’s going to be a lot of fun. I feel like we’re going to surprise some people for sure with how good we are and clicking on all cylinders, I think.”
No matter where LeBron decides to go, it would be seen as him chasing rings, since almost every team in the league already has stars. "Where does Charles and the legends want LeBron to go? Do they want him to go to the G League? Because if he went to Cleveland, is that team stacked? Is Miami with Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo is that team stacked? Jokic and Jamal Murray is that team stacked? Ant Edwards, Rudy Gobert I don’t know; he left Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves is that not? I don’t understand the premise of the complaint," Windhorst said in response.
Those close to James say they believe him when he said in his statement that he thought he "was done when the season ended." But as he decompressed and evaluated where he was in his life and career, the feeling of leading a team and winning the way he'd done in the Los Angeles Lakers' surprising first-round upset of the Houston Rockets while Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves were injured, stuck with him. "I think he just realized he had a lot of meaningful basketball left in him," is how one source close to James put it.
LeBron James did indeed contemplate retirement after the Lakers were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round. But he felt “incomplete,” the source said, in assessing the season. He’d been incredible in L.A.’s first-round upset of the Houston Rockets, playing without Luka Dončić for the whole series and with Austin Reaves for just 64 total minutes in six games. But James also saw that he’d been able to be a supporting cast member in the regular season, when Dončić was healthy and at his best, and Reaves became a dependable second scoring option.
Austin Reaves: Be true to yourself Reaves is a guard for the Los Angeles Lakers. After going undrafted out of Oklahoma, he signed a new contract this offseason. Reaves: LeBron James told me that my rookie year. I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t like going out. I stay in the house, and that was the first thing he told me. He was like, “Don’t try to fit in with anybody that you’re not. If you want to do something, do it. If not, do what you like to do.” I felt like a weight off my shoulders because I could just be myself every day instead of trying to act like somebody else. It’s not even necessarily anything to do with basketball or sports. I think it’s just life in general. Be yourself and be a good person, and at the end of the day, good things will happen.”
Advertisement
The largest proposed deal was $230 million over five years. Two executives considered $200 million over five years to be fair. The two other five-year deals were for $190 million and $180 million. The person who suggested the $190 million contract referenced the Pistons’ other priorities from earlier in the summer, when they were reportedly preparing to offer guard Austin Reaves a four-year, $177 million contract before he re-upped with the Los Angeles Lakers. “If they were willing to give a max to Reaves, then they should be willing to do five years, $190 million for a younger player who made All-NBA at a more valuable position,” the respondent said.
What is the key to be able to get Luka and Austin open looks with your screens? Kevon Looney: “For Austin, I can set the screens on the ball and off the ball for him. On the pick-and-roll, I can get the angles for them. They’re both scoring guards. So I can hold my screens. That should relieve them some pressure so they can get a clean look. That’s something that I specialize at. So I’m super excited to do it for those guys. Luka is a pick-and-roll master. He’s probably the best in the league at it with finding angles and manipulating the defense. I want to pick his mind and learn from him and how he wants his screens set. With talking with those guys, I’m excited about that part, too. Every time I go to a new team or play with a new guard, I ask them how he likes to play. That’s always the fun part.”
“I don't know, a lot of these guys are, they're just some players that that's going to fill in again,” said Gary Payton in a one-on-one interview about the Lakers. “Same thing with the Chicago Bulls (back in the 90s), you're building around Luka, that's what you're building around. Reaves is going to be your Scottie Pippen, so it's just like with us, with Seattle, it's me and Sean Kemp, it's Luka and Reeves. They're building around their guys, and they're trying to put people around these dudes that is going to do their job, get a rebound, make a big-time shot, and then let these guys be Batman and Robin.”
Jovan Buha: Update on Austin Reaves’ contract with the Lakers: Final terms are four years, $180 million, with a player option in 2029–30, league sources tell me. Reaves agreed to a lower amount than the previously reported $185 million to help give Los Angeles more future flexibility.
Bobby Marks: The Austin Reaves contract is the maximum allowable salary in year 1; $41.2M. Year 2 is a roughly 4% increase off year 1. With the cap only projected to increase 5.5% in 2027-28, we are seeing a trend in how contracts are structured in the second season.
Advertisement
Khobi Price: Austin Reaves on the Lakers' addition of Walker Kessler, who Austin was teammates with during the 2023 World Cup: "He’s a big, goofy dude that just enjoys life and has fun. Obviously you see what he does basketball wise and how he impacts the game. He’s good defensively, good in the pocket. Just a smart player. So I’m happy to have him on the team and get to play with him."
Law Murray: Asked Austin Reaves what reinforced his desire to remain with the Los Angeles Lakers "I just think it's the organization, the coaching staff, obviously my relationship with the guys on the team last year and then Luka, he's one of my best friends on this planet. I talk to him almost every single day"
Dave McMenamin: Austin Reaves on LeBron James leaving the Lakers: “I don’t know if I’ve honestly processed it yet. … Starting a season without him on the team is going to be different for me. That’s kind of all I’ve ever known … Got nothing but love and respect for him”
