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Lakers News: Austin Reaves Reveals He Was Close to Signing with Multiple Rival Franchises

There were many teams in the chase for the Laker guard.
Matt Wagner|
Lakers News: Austin Reaves Reveals He Was Close to Signing with Multiple Rival Franchises
Lakers News: Austin Reaves Reveals He Was Close to Signing with Multiple Rival Franchises

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Los Angeles Lakers

Free agency has essentially come and gone for the Los Angeles Lakers, and they accomplished everything that they needed to during the period.

They added quality pieces to the roster in Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, and Jaxson Hayes, and brought back the core of the team responsible for a surprising run to the Western Conference Finals.

It wasn't exactly open and shut for one member of that core though.

Lakers guard Austin Reaves, who signed a four-year, $53 million deal to come back to LA, revealed that he did have suitors around the league during his free agency, with two in particular piquing his interest.

Both of those teams have intriguing young talent on their rosters -- namely San Antonio with Victor Wembanyama and Houston with Jalen Green and Amen Thompson -- and Reaves would've been a significant piece in both of those franchise's rebuilding efforts.

Despite those overtures, Reaves chose to return to the city he called "home," in an attempt to keep building on a breakout campaign.

The 25 year old showed himself to be a great weapon for the Lakers in his second season with the team, mainly showing quality shooting and defense this past year.

The former was an excellent asset for LA in their postseason run, as he hit many key threes on his way to putting up a 44 percent mark from deep in the playoffs.

Now the guard from Newark, Arkansas will head back the city that he's put up his NBA roots, and he'll again play a big role on what should be one of the best teams in the Western Conference.

With the superstar duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis both returning along with many key members of last year's roster, the team is set up on paper for another deep playoff run. 

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Matt Wagner
MATT WAGNER

Matt Wagner was born and raised in southern California, and he lived there before moving to Colorado and getting his B.A. in Communications from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 2022. He relocated back to southern California in 2023 and is looking forward to covering the teams that mean so much to his home area. Some of his past work is in Bleacher Report, Dodgers Tailgate, and, most recently, Colorado Buffaloes Wire. Aside from writing, you can probably catch him petting the nearest dog or eating some good Mexican food.

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