Lakers' Austin Reaves Reveals Why He Nearly Signed with Spurs
This past summer, the San Antonio Spurs found themselves included in offseason rumors regarding the potential signing of budding Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves. But the already thin speculation quickly faded once Reaves signed a four-year, $53.8 million deal to stay with the Lakers in July.
However, Reaves is now saying that he considered signing with the Spurs, admitting that playing alongside rookie star Victor Wembanyama is something that intrigued him.
Of course, Reaves was a restricted free agent anyways, as he lacked complete control over where he could sign before the Lakers would inevitably match any deal another team offered him. But it's interesting to hear his comments on the situation now that the dust of free agency has settled.
"It definitely creeps into your mind, obviously, when there's, you know, a little bit of talks back and forth about something possibly coming to light," Reaves said on Zach Lowe's podcast. "...You know you hear things, and obviously with Wembanyama, like, you know so much upside with him, you know, your mind kind of just wonders into that basketball world what that would be like."
Austin Reaves (left) and Victor Wembanyama.
USA TODAY
Regardless of any interest he might have had in the Spurs, Reaves knew from the beginning that was gonna end up back with the Lakers.
"But I didn't think there was any way that the Lakers didn't match whatever was offered," he said. "They pretty much made it pretty clear that they were gonna match whatever. You think about it a little bit, but at the end of the day, I wanted to be in L.A.
Averaging 16.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists in the playoffs, Reaves reached the double-digit scoring mark in 15 of 16 postseason games - which included seven 20-point games - as the Lakers made it the Western Conference Finals.
He would've been an exciting player to watch alongside Devin Vassell and Wembanyama. But instead, he'll remain a Western Conference rival.
