{"id":2009268,"date":"2026-06-24T23:20:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T20:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2009268"},"modified":"2026-06-24T23:20:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T20:20:45","slug":"austin-reaves-thought-he-was-done-with-lakers-hes-now-their-185-million-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2009268","title":{"rendered":"Austin Reaves thought he was done with Lakers; he\u2019s now their $185 million man"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Austin Reaves collapsed on the grass at The Course at Eagle Mountain. Talks with the Los Angeles Lakers about his free agency lasted only a week, but Reaves was fried.<\/p>\n

Tuesday needed to be the last of it \u2014 for his sanity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t like it,\u201d Reaves told The Athletic<\/em>. \u201cIt was weird. It just was, I mean, it\u2019s just a lot of \u2018What ifs.\u2019 I just like to know where I\u2019m going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So, when he got word on the golf course Tuesday afternoon that the Lakers had increased their contract offer to four years and $185 million, the 28-year-old Reaves, who entered the NBA as an undrafted free agent in 2021, sprawled out on a patch of grass at Batesville, Ark., with a mixture of happiness and relief. His girlfriend, Jenna Barber, shared the image of Reaves sprawled out on her Instagram page Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it was a breath of fresh air because I hadn\u2019t stopped thinking about where I was going to be. And it\u2019s just like a sigh of relief,\u201d he said in a phone interview Wednesday. \u201cI mean, regardless of whatever played out, I\u2019m obviously grateful and in a good position to take care of the people I love. My heart\u2019s been in L.A. Every morning I wake up, I\u2019m just like, \u2018I hope we can get this done today.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd even if I was frustrated through the process when we (weren\u2019t) getting the numbers we wanted, the next morning I woke up, it was still the same thing: \u2018Hopefully we can get this done today.’\u201d<\/p>\n

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Tuesday turned out to be that day, with Reaves agreeing to return to the Lakers, who held off a list of clubs headlined by the Detroit Pistons and Brooklyn Nets who were expected to make max offers.<\/p>\n

The Pistons had emerged as the most significant threat to land Reaves over the past week, per league sources granted anonymity to discuss potential plans.<\/p>\n

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Is Austin Reaves good enough to be a number 1? <\/div>\n
Dave DuFour<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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