Austin Reaves Discussion: How Much Is He Worth?

I’m sure his representative is asking for that.Thats his job working for AR.What he eventually gets is probably something different.

 

source is definitely the agent, probably meaning we've already indicated we'd like to sign him for less. the dance begins.

 

Austin Reaves Wants MAX Contract? What It Would Mean For Lakers

 

seems the Lakers reddit is very much against signing him at that price.

 

Haters!

 

His max is 41 mil in year 1.

I think his contract amount is much less of a concern versus the LeBron contract

 

Nobody knows,
Nobody cares
Leave Breatney alone

 

My basketball fandom is hanging by a thread already, if they let my boy go I might be here less than I already am

 

Well at least we have the bald eagle still he can win a series with his elite defense!

 

he's nothing without lebron, bro.

 

I’m sorry, but if we sign AR for more than 40 million it’s going to be a bad idea.

 

i'm fine up to max, but hoping for something closer to 35 just for flexibility. again, i'd take max descending as a compromise, but 35 escalating is basically 5/200 and max descending is only 180 total, if my math is right. 5 years flat at 40 per could also make some sense.

i feel like 200 million guaranteed should be enough. brunson took 4/156, which is pretty close in AAV, and i'd point to that if i'm on the lakers side of the negotiating table.

 

For what it's worth, Irwin said the Hawks have a lot of interest in Austin.

In May, Amick listed them and the Jazz as the two teams with known interest in him.

Seems their interest in Austin has carried over through multiple changes in the front office in ATL. Their interest dates back to when we were talking to them about Murray.

 

isn't his max of 25% of cap just 41 mil?

Feels like we are making a bigger deal than it is. Some are saying max of 40, but 1 mil isn't going to make a difference in your lineup. It's not even a minimum level player. Maybe a 2 way contract lol. If he took 35m, sure you can get another usable rotation player, but a difference maker? Not so sure about that. We need to improve from within, be healthy, and make some seriously savvy moves (Sign/Trade/Draft/Waived players, etc)

Bron likely isn't going anywhere for the huge paycut he'd have to take, and leave the LA market. I just don't see it.

 

They have an interesting squad after ditching Trae. Could be a good career move for him.

So if Reaves takes another offer, do we keep Lebron, or do we move on to a complete retooling? Maybe offer him a sign and trade to where he wants to go and get him overpaid for another year or two. You can argue with Reaves we aren't going to win it all, but we surely aren't without him. If we don't keep him, I'm not sure keeping Lebron remains priority number 1.

Glad I'm not a NBA GM

 

I've listed here a few times that Austin's salary only matters if you're hard capped at the first apron. This can be done by using the full MLE or in certain trade scenarios where you're taking back more salary.

I do think him being at 35m helps us in the trade scenarios this year. But maybe I'm naive in thinking Ayton, Vando & Knecht can even bring anything back worthwhile.

 

How bad is it if he walks?

I don't want it but Kam brothers podcast were discussing possible max offers by other teams and what's the value where his contract starts to be too much.

My first thought is that it would be absolutely disastrous but it got me into thinking.
Thing is... if we have Luka and a blank slate to draw the rest of the lineup, I don't think AR is the ideal pairing.
Meaning we are going through that duo more because we are forced to, given the hand we were dealt but it's not exactly the ideal pairing.
Do you guys agree with this?

We have the Kyrie/Brunson experience with Luka and another ball handler and paint attacker seems to work well. But ideally you have a strong defender as the 2nd guard, imo.

So if AR walks and Bron walks, we have pretty much a full empty roster and around 70-80M in cap space. We could be extra aggressive (and yes, overpay) on Duren/Kessler and Watson for example, plus get 2 more players via trade. It would mean we would go heavy on 6/7 guys at the expense of depth but it's an at least intriguing alternative.

I think we can get something like:
Lineup: Luka, Smart, Herb, Watson, Duren
Bench: Kennard (room), Jake, Thiero, Portis, Hayes

We basically have 4 slots to fill in with 70-80M cap space + trades for our 3 picks and around 40 we can get back by sending out our other players. It can be any combination of any guys you think will be in the market.

Is it worthy?
It's a unique opportunity to start fresh and build a Luka team from scratch

 

They have to make it work, and I think they will.

Austin's contract will likely have a "4" in front of it, and it is what it is.