ESPN gives Lakers a B+ grade for max contract extension of Reaves: Signing evaluation suggests tougher roster upgrades ahead

On June 25, Beijing time, the Lakers finalized a four-year, $185 million max contract (with a player option in the fourth year) to extend Austin Reaves. ESPN quickly issued a grade of B+ for the deal. Here's the detailed breakdown—

Even though the Los Angeles Lakers are always in the spotlight, Austin Reaves remains underrated by the public.

Reaves plays alongside Luka Dončić and LeBron James. If he were the primary offensive option on another team, his individual numbers would be even more impressive. According to data site Databallr, during the 2025-26 season, in the 669 minutes when Dončić was not on the court, Reaves produced exceptionally explosive performances.

His on-court stats closely mirror those of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander:

2025-26 season comparison (without Dončić on court, per 75 possessions)

Of course, this doesn't mean Reaves has reached Gilgeous-Alexander's level. He commits more turnovers, has a clear gap in defensive ability, and is less reliable in terms of game attendance. However, even compared to this back-to-back MVP winner, Reaves fully deserves this lucrative contract. The former undrafted player secured a big deal when he became an unrestricted free agent for the first time.

In 2023, as a restricted free agent, Reaves signed an extremely cost-effective contract: four years, $53.8 million, with a player option in the final year. This time, he did not offer the Lakers a hometown discount. Last season, he repeatedly delivered superstar-level performances. Now at 28, he rightfully earns this high salary, and the Lakers absolutely could not afford to lose him.

However, a challenge lies ahead for the Lakers: Building a championship roster around two players with similar playing styles in Dončić and Reaves is no easy task. The two core players have conflicting technical characteristics. For example, when Dončić is not on the court, Reaves' usage rate skyrockets to 34.5%, but when they play together, it plummets to 21.4%. This means the Lakers cannot fully unlock Reaves' offensive power in an off-ball role. At the same time, both are prime defensive targets for opponents. Over the course of this contract, the combined salaries of the two will account for more than half of the team's salary cap.

But a high-paid, stylistically overlapping duo is not impossible to build into a top contender. The Celtics gave max contracts to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown yet have remained perennial championship contenders; earlier, Dončić teamed up with another primary ball-handling guard, Kyrie Irving, in Dallas and led the team to the NBA Finals.

That Mavericks team had a strong supporting cast of quality role players who filled the gaps around the two offensive stars. This is precisely the biggest unknown for the Lakers: Can they assemble a supporting crew of equal caliber?

Excluding Dončić and Reaves, the Lakers' guaranteed contracts (with no player/team options) for next season are only Jared Vanderbilt, Jake LaRavia, Dalton Knecht, Bronny James, and Adu Tierno. The team's roster is far from complete, and the work of building around the backcourt duo has just begun.

As far as the signing itself goes, this contract is perfectly reasonable. Reaves' scoring ability is still steadily improving, and his current cap hold is relatively low, so he will wait until the Lakers finalize their other offseason acquisitions before officially signing.

Signing a star to a max contract is just the simplest first step. Next, the Lakers must fill out a full championship-caliber roster with very little cap space remaining.