The NBA’s offseason rhythms don’t slow down for anyone.
Just half a day after the Lakers drafted Baylor wing Cameron Carr with the No. 24 pick in the first round of the NBA draft on Tuesday, the franchise agreed to terms on a four-year, $185 million contract with star guard Austin Reaves on Wednesday.
And the immediate question that followed, with the official start of free agency a week away, is how Reaves’ new nine-figure deal will affect the Lakers financially this offseason?
The quick answer? Mininmally.
Because Reaves didn’t officially sign the contract, his $20.9 million cap hold (which allows the Lakers to maintain his Bird Rights and go over the salary cap line of $165 million to re-sign him) is on the Lakers’ books instead of the $41.3 million salary he’ll have for 2026-27.
From here, the Lakers have multiple paths they can choose from entering free agency.
They have five players (LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Maxi Kleber, Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes) slated to become unrestricted free agents and two more players (Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart) having until Monday to decide whether they’ll opt into their player options or opt out and become free agents.
The Lakers can relinquish everyone’s cap hold but Reaves’, which would create around $48 million in cap space.
They could use the cap space to re-sign their own players, sign other unrestricted free agents, make offer sheets for restricted free agents or use in trades to acquire players without having to send out players who make an equal amount of salary.
If the Lakers took this route, they’d also have the $9.4 million room exception.
And then from there, officially re-signing Reaves would be the last order of business.
But if the Lakers decide to stay over the cap, they could maintain the rights to re-sign most of their own free agents. They’d also have access to the $15 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which they could use to sign one player or multiple free agents, which they did last season with Ayton and Jake LaRavia.
Reaves’ contract may be significant, but it isn’t slowing the Lakers down this offseason.
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