The Los Angeles Lakers found a true gem in Austin Reaves.
Reaves played himself into a big contract, and some analysts thought he could get close to — or even over — $100 million in free agency.
At the end of the day, reports state that teams didn’t want to sign him to an offer sheet because they knew the Lakers would simply match any offer.
Even so, that doesn’t mean there weren’t teams interested in trying to get him.
In his recent appearance on Matt Barnes’ and Stephen Jackson’s “All The Smoke” podcast, the Arkansas product revealed that the reports about the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs showing an interest in signing him were true, via Jacob Rude on Twitter.
On "All The Smoke," Austin Reaves confirms San Antonio and Houston were options for him in free agency but he "wanted to be in LA the whole time" pic.twitter.com/ddad44YWdn
— Jacob Rude (@JacobRude) July 20, 2023
Reaves added that the Rockets were out of the picture once they signed Fred VanVleet to that huge contract, and explained that he always wanted to stay in Los Angeles, as he already felt it was a place he could call home.
Darvin Ham and LeBron James have had nothing but praise for Reaves since he broke out, and he’s expected to have an expanded role next season.
He also played himself onto Team USA’s roster, with Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitting that he was impressed by him when they matched up in the second round of the playoffs.
Reaves is one of the league’s rising stars and he might be in line for an even bigger payday some years from now if he keeps the solid play and team-first mentality up.
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