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56 minutes ago
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Another day, another enticing Los Angeles Lakers rumor.
Unsurprisingly, the 17-time NBA champions are expected to be active this summer, as they still have plenty of work to do to field a championship-contending roster. However, this particular Lakers rumor is good news for Luka Doncic and bad news for LeBron James.
"There's two big differences between LeBron and Reaves right now,” Lakers insider Jovan Buha stated last Friday. “One, LeBron is a short-term solution. Reaves is viewed by the franchise as a long-term cornerstone.”
“So if it comes down to, would you rather pay Reaves $40 million for the next five years, or LeBron $40 million for one year, they're going to prioritize the long-term contract here. Reaves is more of a priority for the Lakers than LeBron is. That's just a fact.”
“The second part of it is that Reaves is going to have a market. And LeBron—maybe he wants to go to Chicago (Bulls), or Brooklyn (Nets), I do not foresee that—but the issue with LeBron is that all of the teams that are going to want LeBron are going to have somewhere between a vet minimum offer and a non-taxpayer mid-level exception offer.”
“So LeBron can't leverage the market against the Lakers the same way Reaves can. Reaves can go get a monster contract offer from Chicago or Brooklyn, and put pressure on the Lakers to be like, 'They're about to pay me $40 million annually. Maybe I'll take a (hair less) than that, but you need to give me that fifth year, and it needs to be pretty close to $40 million.' Lebron is not going to have the same leverage."
Buha’s report bodes well for Doncic, as he hasn’t minced his words on Reaves’ evolving skill set and his desire to continue playing alongside the breakout star. If the Lakers prove they’re fully committed to keeping Reaves in the fold this summer by any means necessary, Doncic’s partnership with the Oklahoma product won’t end anytime soon.
From James’ vantage point, though, the four-time NBA champion may have no choice but to explore other options during the offseason. It appears that the 41-year-old free agent is open to returning to the Lakers, but the franchise’s refusal to make re-signing him its primary goal could compel him to take his talents elsewhere.
Expect Reaves and James to continue dominating the Lakers’ offseason headlines going forward.
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