Leaving the team? Lake media revealed that Reeves annual salary for the new contract will exceed 30 million, and the Lakers can only give 89.2 million in four years

Lakers defender Austin Reeves, the recent contract issues have attracted widespread attention. According to Lakers media Silver Screen and Roll, his annual salary for his next contract is expected to exceed $30 million.

In the summer of 2023, Rivers signed a 4-year, 56 million early bird maximum salary contract with the Lakers, of which the fourth year is the player option. This summer, the Lakers can only provide him with a four-year, $89.2 million contract extension.

, according to Ricardo Sandoval, Reeves expects to refuse this contract and intends to appear on the existing contract. In the 2026 offseason, he has the player options in hand and is ready to test the free agent market. By the labor-capital agreement, he was expected to pursue a contract with an annual salary of $42.5 million. After the Lakers were eliminated in the playoffs 1-4, rumors about Reeves trades kept coming. Lakers Daily updated social media and revealed that Reeves' broker spoke out about trading rumors, warning people that they could not predict the follow-up situation at all. Reeves' future in the Lakers is now full of uncertainty, and fans are closely watching the developments.

In my opinion, from the internal reasons for Reeves, his own strength has grown too fast. When he first joined the Lakers, he was not so eye-catching, but now he has become an important member of the team. His scoring ability has been greatly improved. He averaged about 20 points per game this season and also sent out a lot of assists to connect the team's offense. His three-pointers are becoming more and more stable, he is not ruthless at critical moments, dares to take action, and his shooting percentage is not low. With this performance, he felt that he deserved a higher salary, which was a reasonable idea. If I play so well, I want to get more money, right?

From the Lakers' perspective, salary space limits the quotes to Reeves. The Lakers' salary structure is already tight now, and there are also high-paid stars such as James and Doncic in the team. 89.2 million in 4 years is no longer easy for the Lakers. But this is quite different from the annual salary Reeves expected to have more than 30 million yuan. The Lakers are also helpless. They can't spend all their salary space on Reeves in the next few years, right?

Looking at external factors, the temptation of the free agent market is too great. Once Reeves enters the free market, it will become a hot commodity. Many teams have plenty of salary space and are worried about not having good players, so they must be rushing to ask for him. The salary these teams can give is likely much higher than that of the Lakers. If Reeves goes, he can get a high salary and may become the core of the team. Why not do it? Moreover, the league's salary cap is now on an upward trend, and players' salaries will generally increase in the next few years. Reeves also wants to take advantage of this wave of dividends to win a big contract for himself.

So, if Reeves refuses to renew the Lakers' contract and wants to try the waters in the free market, it is completely understandable. The Lakers are also very troubled. They can't keep Reeves, and the team's strength is affected; if they forcefully keep it, it will be troublesome to follow-up signings. It can only be said that this contract negotiation is like a game, and it depends on how both parties finally weigh the pros and cons.

From the perspective of management, if you really want to lose him, it would be better to trade it out and exchange it for some bargaining chips. What do you think?