The Los Angeles Lakers will sign Austin Reaves to a huge new contract when free agency opens next week, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Wednesday. The deal is reportedly worth $185 million over four years; Reaves’s new annual salary of $46.5 million is a big-time raise over the $14 million he made last season. Reaves, coming off a career season, held a player option for 2026–27 worth $14.5 million that just about everybody expected him to decline in order to seek a richer deal. Thus, Wednesday’s news comes as no surprise. The 28-year-old averaged 23.3 points and 5.5 assists last season, showing he was a great fit for the Lakers as the No. 2 option offensively behind Luka Dončić. It wasn’t all perfect, though. Reaves battled injuries throughout the season and suffered a devastating oblique injury in the final days of the regular season that kept him out of L.A.’s first four playoff games. He returned in time to help eliminate the Rockets but clearly wasn’t in playing shape. By the time he looked like his regular-season self against the Thunder in the second round, it was too late; the Lakers wound up getting swept while Reaves averaged 20.8 points on 42% shooting against the defending champs. Nevertheless, Reaves is a key part of Los Angeles’s future now. His scoring talents take a lot of the responsibility off Dončić and gives the Lakers a go-to leader offensively when their superstar has to hit the bench. His defensive struggles means he isn’t a perfect fit alongside Dončić but his value as a scorer outweighs that most nights. Moreover, while this is quite an expensive deal for the Lakers as the maximum amount Reaves could have demanded, they are looking to contend for titles. Players like Reaves are too good to let walk out the door in free agency, which was the risk L.A. would have run if the franchise let him hit the open market without a deal in place. Dončić has his running mate for the foreseeable future, and the Lakers’ best homegrown talent in years is staying put. More NBA from Sports IllustratedListen to SI’s NBA podcast, Open Floor, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow