The Lakers retained Austin Reaves in free agency over the summer without having to put up a fight.
Los Angeles was expected to be in a bidding war for the 25-year-old restricted free agent's services, but it was able to re-sign one of its key free agents without a rivaling offer sheet.
The Athletic's Shams Charania reported that Reaves had signed a four-year, $56 million Early Bird maximum contract, keeping the Oklahoma product in Purple and Gold.
What did Reaves' contract extension look like and what is an "Early Bird" maximum contract? The Sporting News has answers below.
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Austin Reaves contract details
Reaves signed a four-year, $56 million Early Bird maximum contract with the Lakers.
Los Angeles did everything it could to keep Reaves, adding a player option in Year 4, a 15 percent trade kicker and the maximum advance allowable, per Charania.
Reaves burst onto the scene this past season, playing a key role in helping the Lakers return to the Western Conference Finals. He averaged 13.0 points, 3.4 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game during the regular season, then bumped those averages to 16.9 points, 4.6 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game during the playoffs.
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Reaves' new deal will keep him in Los Angeles through the 2025-26 season, with a player option for the 2026-27 season.
You can find his estimated contract below, via Spotrac.
| Year | Salary |
| 2023-24 | $12,555,900 |
| 2024-25 | $13,560,372 |
| 2025-26 | $14,564,844 |
| 2026-27 | $15,569,316 (PO) |
| 2027 | UFA |
| Total | $56,250,432 |
PO = Player option
Austin Reaves salary
While Reaves' contract has an average annual value of $14 million, he will earn $12.6 million during the 2023-24 season and his salary will increase throughout the life of his contract.
What is an "Early Bird" maximum contract?
The Sporting News' Jordan Greer put together a glossary of common NBA free agency terms that is certainly worth checking out if you're a fan following along this offseason. One of those terms is "Bird Rights."
Bird rights, named after Celtics legend Larry Bird, give teams the ability to exceed the salary cap in order to retain their own players. (Boston was the first team permitted to use this exception.)
There are different ways for players to earn Bird rights, but the most basic path is to play for the same team for three consecutive seasons. It is also possible for a player's Bird rights to transfer with him to another team.
"Early Bird Rights" is a similar concept, granted to players who were signed as free agents and have spent two consecutive seasons with the same team.
The major difference is that if a team has a player's Bird Rights, they can sign said player to a five-year contract extension, whereas Early Bird Rights only allow a four-year contract extension.
Austin Reaves stats
Reaves made a major improvement between his rookie and sophomore seasons, indicating the best is yet to come for the 25-year-old.
2022-23 season
- 13.0 points per game
- 3.4 assists per game
- 3.0 rebounds per game
- 0.5 steals per game
- 0.3 blocks per game
- 52.9 field goal percentage
- 39.8 3-point percentage
- 86.4 free throw percentage
Career
- 10.2 points per game
- 2.6 assists per game
- 3.1 rebounds per game
- 0.5 steals per game
- 0.3 blocks per game
- 50.1 field goal percentage
- 36.3 3-point percentage
- 85.6 free throw percentage
Austin Reaves career earnings
Reaves went from undrafted to a Two-Way contract to a standard minimum contract, netting himself $2,488,776 over his first two NBA seasons.
Once he completes his new contract extension, Reaves' career earnings will jump up to approximately $58,739,208.
