The Los Angeles Lakers announced they have officially signed rookie Austin Reaves to a standard NBA contract. While the terms of the deal were not released, it is reported to be a two-year minimum deal with a partial guarantee and team option in the second year.
The Lakers previously signed Reaves to a two-way contract shortly after he went undrafted out of Oklahoma. He impressed during Summer League, and it appears he has impressed during offseason runs at the practice facility as well, which earned him a spot on the roster.
With the start of the 2021-22 NBA season just around the corner, it’s no secret the Lakers will be looking quite a bit different this year.
While the Lakers still have LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Talen Horton-Tucker, the rest of the roster has changed from last season. The big move, of course, was L.A.’s blockbuster acquisition of Russell Westbrook.
The Lakers then did a solid job of filling out the roster with veterans that understand the common goal of winning the organization’s 18th championship.
With the recent trade of Marc Gasol, the Lakers freed up an extra roster spot though. Rob Pelinka indicated the Lakers will go into the season with 14 players to maintain flexibility, which means they only had one more spot to hand out before the first game.
Despite working out numerous veteran players, the Lakers opted to give that spot to Reaves, which goes to show how strongly they feel about the 23-year-old’s game.
Lakers have open two-way spot
Now that Reaves has been elevated to a standard NBA contract, the Lakers will have one more two-way deal to hand out before the start of the season. The primary candidates are Mac McClung and Chaundee Brown, both of which signed Exhibit 10 deals with L.A.
The Lakers can hand out one more Exhibit 10 deal before the start of training camp if they want, which would be in their best interest before finalizing their other two-way deal along with Joel Ayayi.
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