Austin Reaves went into free agency hoping to re-sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, but he considered both the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs before the process began. Reaves explained his approach in an appearance on Showtime’s “All the Smoke” with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson (video link).
“I really wanted to be in L.A. the whole time,” Reaves said. “There were a couple of situations that were close, but like I said, I really wanted to be in L.A. L.A. feels like home to me so that’s really where I wanted to be.”
Reaves was a restricted free agent and the Lakers were limited to an offer of about $54M over four years with his Early Bird rights. Because of the Arenas provision, L.A. would have been able to match a larger offer sheet from another team and both Houston and San Antonio had enough cap room to give Reaves a contract that could have made it a tough decision. Both organizations ultimately decided to spend their money in other areas, so L.A. was able to keep the 25-year-old shooting guard at a relative bargain price.
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