Analysis of the Los Angeles Lakers’ pivotal moment
In the visiting locker room of the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis, Lakers wing Austin Reaves was presented with his second game ball in just four nights. Moments earlier, he had secured a win for the Lakers with a crucial floater, splitting a double-team late in regulation.
With his feet submerged in an ice bath, the exhausted Reaves turned to teammate Jarred Vanderbilt and asked a simple yet telling question, illustrating his disorientation after an intense stretch of play: “What day is it?”
No one could blame Reaves for losing track. He had just concluded a sensational 96-hour period, arguably the best of his five-year NBA career. This remarkable run included a career-high 51 points in Sacramento, followed by 41 points against the Portland Trail Blazers the next night, and culminating in a 28-point, 16-assist performance capped by the decisive buzzer-beater.
This solo-starring act took place while superstars LeBron James and Luka Doncic were sidelined with injuries. With Reaves fueling the Lakers` surprising 8-3 start, his rapid ascent puts him at the center of two major organizational storylines.
First, his strong play helps ensure the Lakers win early and often, potentially convincing James that Los Angeles remains his best path to a final championship. But second, Reaves is performing so well that retaining him might cost the franchise nearly a quarter of a billion dollars.
Inside the locker room, Reaves, who estimated he had over 500 unread text messages, posed his question to Vanderbilt because he was trying to figure out if he could attend the Los Angeles Dodgers` World Series game in person. Vanderbilt informed him it was Wednesday. The subsequent schedule calculation showed that if the Dodgers won Game 6, Reaves could potentially fly from Memphis, where the Lakers were headed, to Toronto for Game 7, provided he footed the travel bill himself before returning for the next Lakers game in L.A.
Vanderbilt then articulated the unspoken reality about Reaves’ skyrocketing value.
“Not going to lie, if I had 50 and a game-winner in the same week, I would be taking a PJ [private jet],” Vanderbilt joked.
“Yeah, right,” Reaves responded. “I`m taking Southwest. I`m broke.”
“Not for long,” Vanderbilt quipped back.
The Cost of Success: $241 Million
Reaves’ continued success might be the true determining factor for the Lakers` future. Just as his presence lifted the team, his brief absence confirmed his value. When Reaves missed a third straight game with a strained right groin, the Lakers looked listless in a 122-102 loss, confirming his irreplaceable nature.
The value proposition is being monitored across the league. One Eastern Conference front office executive told reporters, “AR`s a stud. If I were the Brooklyn Nets, I would throw all the money at him. He has shown when he gets the keys to the engine, he can produce.”
Reaves has a personal aspiration to be compensated fairly when he reaches unrestricted free agency this summer. He understands the connection between team success and personal financial gain. “At the end of the day, team success is going to help me,” Reaves stated. “[If I] help us, then it will help me in the long haul, when you`re winning.”
Last June, the Lakers offered Reaves and his agents, Aaron Reilly and Reggie Berry, a four-year, $89 million contract extension—the maximum they were permitted to offer under the collective bargaining agreement. Although a starting annual salary of $19.5 million would have been a staggering 2,000% raise from his rookie season, Reaves’ camp knew it was not the time to accept.
Berry confirmed the decision: “There was a lot of pride and appreciation when we got that offer, but we knew it was not the time to take it.”
This summer, Reaves is eligible to sign a monumental five-year, $241 million deal with the Lakers. If he chooses to sign with another team, he could command four years and $178.5 million. The first-year salary under a maximum deal would equate to 25% of the salary cap in 2026-27.
Despite these astronomical figures, Reaves insists he is grounded in his approach. He wants fair market value relative to his peers, such as Jordan Poole and Tyler Herro, who signed contracts worth about 20% of the cap. Due to league growth and a new television rights deal, a similar percentage in 2026-27 would place his salary around $33 million.
“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 said. “Even though the other extension was turned down, that doesn`t mean that I`m trying to go get a 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.”
Embracing Leadership
Coach JJ Redick spent the offseason encouraging Reaves to embrace a leadership role. “The biggest thing was him taking a step forward as a leader and recognizing that it`s as much his team as it is LeBron`s team or Luka`s team,” Redick explained. “You`re out of excuses. You`re no longer the undrafted guy who`s a young player. You`re one of the main guys now, and he`s been very responsive to that.”
Reaves took the message to heart. “He basically pulled me in and was like, ‘Obviously this isn`t all on you, but take control. Be a leader,`” Reaves recalled. “‘Your teammates like you… 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.`”
In the absence of James and Doncic, the team has strongly responded to Reaves` play and his personality.
Lakers center Jaxson Hayes noted, “He`s a bit of that sarcastic a**hole that everyone loves, but you can tell he genuinely cares about everyone on the team.”
Reaves has also developed distinct chemistry with Luka Doncic, a relationship multiple team sources described as a “bromance” fueled by constant teasing. When Reaves suggested Doncic could average 40 points this season, Luka smirked and said, “Austin`s stupid.” Days later, when asked to describe Doncic, Reaves retorted, “He`s an idiot.”
Redick emphasized that their similar personalities aid team cohesion: “They both realized that they both enjoy talking trash—a lot. And their personalities in that regard are very similar. And so they can create a little bit of chemistry with each other just by being their natural selves.”
Beyond the locker room, Reaves serves as a critical success story for the Lakers’ player-development pipeline, inspiring both rookies and free-agent signings. Rookie Chris Mañon, currently on a two-way contract, studies Reaves closely: “We kind of have a similar story – undrafted guy – so definitely going to do the most to learn and see everything he does and try to be something like him.”
Bronny James also watches Reaves` film to learn how to play against bigger defenders, noting, “He likes to put his shoulder into bigger defenders and get them off balance… and he just stops on a dime really well.”
Three weeks into the season, Reaves has successfully served as the focal point of a team near the top of the Western Conference standings. It is a role he intends to maintain, regardless of who returns to the lineup.
“I’ve always approached it as, do what you have to do to help the team,” Reaves concluded. “The coaching staff has put more responsibility on me. But with them doing that to me, it just shows me that that’s what I have to do to help us. And obviously things will change when Bron gets back, but it’ll go back to, ‘What can I do to keep this train rolling?’”
