The Los Angeles Lakers are entering a new era of the franchise in 2025-26, with Luka Doncic preparing for his first full season in L.A. and coming off a successful summer of slimming down and leading Slovenia to the quarterfinal round in the EuroBasket 2025, and LeBron James potentially playing out his final campaign with the purple and gold.
Where Austin Reaves fits in this new era is a big question Rob Pelinka probably doesn’t yet know the answer to. Reaves can get a contract for up to five years and roughly $ 246 million during his next round of negotiations with the front office.
Zach Lowe revealed on Tuesday’s episode of The Bill Simmons podcast that the Lakers may not want to pay Reaves in a post-LeBron, Luka-centric landscape in 2026 and beyond.
“What if things just go very badly this season for Austin Reaves with the Lakers? What if it’s like, ‘Oh, you asked me to come off the bench,’ extension talks, you know, they couldn’t really get started because you couldn’t offer me enough. But I’m not sure, ‘Do you really value me enough in a Luka world? LeBron is still here. Is he retiring? If he’s retiring, is that good for my future in L.A.?’ I’m just saying, like, there’s a world in which it goes,” Lowe wrote.
Reaves became a star next to LeBron and, particularly, Anthony Davis. His counting stats increased, and his shooting splits didn’t fluctuate much after Davis was swapped for Doncic. Still, some see the ball-dominant nature of Reaves and Luka eventually being a clunky fit. Doubling up on similar offensive skillsets in the era of the second tax apron isn’t a smart play. Pelinka has been very deliberate about his roster-building, minus some overpays following their 2023 WCF run.
Former three-time NBA champion in Los Angeles, Robert Horry, doesn’t believe giving Reaves the max is the way forward for the Lakers.
“If the Lakers are smart, they would do a sign-and-trade. And the reason I say that is because when you have a team with two players, who are pretty much the same, meaning Luka and A.R., I’m not saying they have the same skill set — they play the same position, pretty much do the same thing — it’s a wash. Don’t get me wrong, I love A.R., but you don’t need two of the same players,” Horry said on his podcast.
We’ll see how things play out over the next year. Based on this past February’s arrival of Doncic in L.A., there’s no telling what could happen.
