Apr 28, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) celebrates with forward LeBron James (6) after a 3-point basket in the first quarter of game six of the 2023 NBA playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Austin Reaves Would Love to Spend Entire Career With Lakers

Originally posted on Los Angeles Lakers on SI
By Aaron Coloma | Last updated Sep 29, 2025 8:30 PM ET

Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves recently expressed his desire to stay with the Lakers for the remainder of his career.

“Being undrafted and this being my first home, there’s not many people in the league anymore that stay somewhere for their full career,” Reaves said, per Dan Woike of The Athletic. “I feel like that would be cool, and that would fit kind of the story of what my life’s been.”

Reaves' name floated around numerous times during the offseason, especially in trades focused around a center. However, the Lakers ultimately decided to keep him for the upcoming season and expect another fantastic season out of the 6-foot-5 guard.

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The Lakers took a chance on Reaves after the guard went undrafted, and it has massively paid off for them. Reaves has vastly improved in each of his seasons with the Lakers, and started all 73 of the games he featured in during the 2024-25 season. He averaged more than 20 points per game for the first time in his career last season, and also reached a new career high in assists per game.

Reaves doesn't much care for his personal statistics, though, and would much rather contend than get a larger share of the ball.

'I Could be an All-Star'

“I feel like I could be an All-Star. But all of that is, in my opinion, relative. Thank God I play with Luka and LeBron. And, I wanna win. So, it’s not like I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m just going out chucking, getting numbers,” Reaves said. “If that’s the map for me to be an All-Star, I don’t care about that. I wanna win. If that means to be, ‘a third option’ to what I’m doing what I did last year, but we were having a chance to compete in the playoffs and compete for championships, then I would prefer that much more than even being an All-Star.”

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The Lakers have a solid chance to compete for a championship again in 2025-26, as they have addressed many of their needs from last season. They added a much-needed center in DeAndre Ayton, forward depth in Jake LaRavia and a defensive anchor in guard Marcus Smart.

The Lakers' additions on top of their already star-studded lineup have taken them to a new level, and Reaves will definitely play a huge role in the upcoming season.