The Lakers spent the offseason remaking their roster, and Austin Reaves says the message behind it was clear: this wasn’t just about chasing wins right away.
During an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, Reaves said he had multiple conversations with Rob Pelinka before agreeing to stay in Los Angeles, and that the pitch centered on building something that could last.
“I had a lot of talks with Rob [Pelinka],” Reaves said. “I’m really close with Luka [Doncic] and JJ [Redick] as well.
And we’re just building something that can be sustainable for not just now, but the future. I seen something the other day that I’m the oldest guy on the team, and I’m 28.
So it’s actually crazy to me. But yeah, I mean, we want to have success now and five or six, seven years in the future.”
That line about being the oldest guy on the team at 28 says plenty about the direction the Lakers have taken. They were set to have Reaves as their oldest player next season, but that changed when they agreed to a one-year veteran minimum deal with Kevon Looney. Looney is 30, which still keeps the roster in a noticeably younger lane.
The Lakers have leaned hard into that shift. They were reportedly comfortable letting 41-year-old LeBron James walk in free agency, and they also didn’t seem to make much of an effort to retain 32-year-old Marcus Smart or 30-year-old Luke Kennard. Instead, they brought in a wave of younger talent.
Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Collin Sexton are the headline additions, and all of them are 27 or younger. Kessler, Grimes, and Mamukelashvili each got four-year deals, just like Reaves. The message from the front office was obvious: line up the timelines and build around the same age range.
Reaves wound up with the biggest payday of the group, landing a four-year, $185 million contract. He had been on track to decline his $14.9 million player option and test free agency, but the Lakers moved quickly and locked him in before that could happen.
“The one thing that the Lakers had the advantage on was being able to talk to me as soon as the season was over,” Reaves said. “And July 1st was when everybody else could come in. So it was crazy, but it was good that the Lakers had that opportunity to get something done, so I didn’t have to actually hit the market.”
The Kessler move came with a steep price, too. The Lakers sent the Utah Jazz two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps in the deal for the big man, then gave Kessler a four-year, $130 million contract as part of the sign-and-trade.
For now, the Lakers are betting that Reaves, Kessler, and Luka Doncic can carry them both immediately and over the long haul. The roster looks built to pile up regular-season wins. The bigger question is whether that group is enough to get all the way to a title.
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