Lakers in danger of losing bidding war for fan favorite?

Austin Reaves’ free agency could become a problem for the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason.

Reaves is an undrafted player out of Oklahoma who signed a two-year, $2.49 million deal with the Lakers in September 2021. He will be a restricted free agent after the season, but other teams are expected to have interest in him.

NBA insider Marc Stein recently wrote on his Substack he believes some team will outbid the Lakers for Reaves.

The Lakers can offer Reaves around $50 million for four years. They will have the right to match any offer for the guard, but other teams can make it really expensive for the Lakers by signing Reaves to a big offer sheet. Other teams could also backload the contracts to make it even more difficult on the Lakers.

Any money the Lakers use to match a contract for Reaves would also limit their ability to bring back D’Angelo Russell and Dennis Schroder, who will both be unrestricted free agents.

Reaves has emerged as a key player on the Lakers’ roster. While LeBron James and Anthony Davis are the main options, Reaves has been extremely consistent weapon.

Reaves is averaging 16.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game this postseason. In the regular season, the 24-year-old averaged 13.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game on 52.9 percent shooting.