Austin Reaves May Offer Lakers Hometown Salary Discount As Free Agency Value Skyrockets

Nov 10, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) tries to drive past Charlotte Hornets guard/forward Kon Knueppel (7) during the second quarter at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Westerholt-Imagn Images | Brian Westerholt-Imagn Images

Austin Reaves has made himself a lot of money over the first few weeks of the NBA season as he prepares to enter free agency next season.

Reaves is averaging over 30 points per game this season, the fifth-highest total in the NBA. Additionally, Reaves is averaging over five rebounds and nine assists per game — the latter of which are also the fifth-highest in the league.

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Reaves has shown that he's no longer a third option in an offense and that he can in fact be a team's go-to guy. In three games without both star guard Luka Doncic and forward LeBron James, Reaves averaged 40 points per game — including a 51-point outburst against the Sacramento Kings — and led the Lakers to a 2-1 record.

While Reaves is likely to attract attention from teams willing to pay him an immensely lucrative contract, the fifth-year player has expressed his desire to stay in Los Angeles.

Reaves Could Earn A Huge Raise Next Year

The Lakers called Reaves over the offseason to offer him a standard, four-year $89 million contract extension — the most they were able to offer under the collective bargaining agreement — knowing that Reaves would not accept.

Next summer, Reaves will be eligible to sign a five-year, $241 million deal with the Lakers or a four-year deal for $178.5 million for another team according to ESPN NBA front office insider Bobby Marks.

According to ESPN reporter Dave McMenamin's reporting, Reaves is not necessarily looking to milk every dollar for his upcoming contract, whether it's with Los Angeles or another team.

"I try not to think about it. Honestly. I've said it a million times. I want to be in L.A. I love it," Reaves told ESPN. "Even though the other extension was turned down, that doesn't mean that I'm trying to go get a f—ing gigantic number that don't make sense. I want to be here, I want to win. I want to do everything that can help this organization be better. So I don't try to think about those things."

Reaves success this season comes as a result of a conscious effort to grow as a leader on the team after a series of pep talks from his head coach, JJ Redick.

"He basically pulled me in and was like, 'Obviously this isn't all on you, but take control. Be a leader,'" Reaves told ESPN. "The same talk over and over again was, 'Your teammates like you,' which I don't even know if they actually do, but he just kept telling me. ... 'You kind of just hiding in the back is over. You have to take control and speak up and be a leader of this team.'"

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