Lakers’ Efforts to Re-sign Austin Reaves Revealed: Custom Pillows & Country Music Landed $185 Million Contract

When Austin Reaves declined his player option for the 2026-27 season, many felt he would go the Dennis Schroder route. That is, bet too much on oneself, and lose any chance of earning another big paycheck.

The former Lakers star has still not recovered from that blunder. In fact, he has become a subject of trolls after he is continuously traded every other time.

Fans were worried the Arkansas native had bitten too much into his potential. After all, he is an undrafted player, and they never achieve the status of a superstar.

At the start of the season, with mentor LeBron James sidelined with sciatica, Reaves took full advantage and established himself as a player on the rise.

Then, when Luka Doncic was sidelined, his performances led many to hail him as a true No.1 on any other team. He may not have been able to continue those exploits once the Slovenian and James returned, but the basketball world knew what he could do.

There was a free-agent meeting that the Lakers had with Austin Reaves and his agents right after the NBA Finals… They’re playing his favorite country music. They were giving him pillows with AR initials on them. They were doing everything they could to add that personal touch to make him feel that he was wanted back in LA.

Shams Charania revealed on First Take

The Lakers held a meeting with Austin Reaves playing his favorite country songs, and made him Pillows with AR initials on them in their recruiting pitch, per @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/j6ESuVPhWC

— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) June 25, 2026

This means that the franchise wanted to do everything it could to sign Austin Reaves to a long-term deal. It was not as if the guard wanted to leave, but there was something else that pushed the Lakers to act fast.

Detroit Pistons forced Lakers to offer Austin Reaves $46 million

Shams Charania talked about how Austin Reaves first arrived on the Los Angeles Lakers on a two-way contract. That was the only option, considering he was undrafted.

In fact, the Oklahoma alum was not technically undrafted. The Detroit Pistons wanted to select him with the 42nd pick in the 2021 Draft, but he declined.

It seems their interest in him did not fade away. It was revealed that the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 regular-season team wanted to get him back.

Austin Reaves, from what I understand, two days ago was somewhere around $30 million per year in his offer from the Lakers… A far cry from what they offered him yesterday. What they offered him yesterday, and he agreed to, was more than $45 million per year. That’s a 50 percent increase in like 24 hours.

RealGM quoted Brian Windhorst

RealGM also quoted the ESPN senior writer as saying on First Take that the very reason Austin Reaves received that higher offer was because the Lakers came to know that the Pistons were circling him.

That means had the Pistons not offered him a good deal, the Lakers may have signed the 28-year-old to a contract paying him $30 million on average.

Lakers should take advantage of Austin Reaves’ new contract

To the uninitiated, the Los Angeles Lakers will struggle to re-sign LeBron James to a max contract since Austin Reaves‘ $46.5 million salary will prove to be the biggest obstacle.

However, the franchise has the 6’5″ guard’s Bird rights. Which means, until Reaves signs, they can continue adding players or re-signing their current free agents.

The franchise can choose to either create space by officially releasing everyone and then sign them back, or even add free agents. Or they can sign everyone at once, if they choose to go over the cap threshold.

Either way, Reaves’ contract is not a hurdle. They can wait until after they have concluded business with others to ask the guard to put pen to paper.

Also Read:

• No. 1 Pick AJ Dybansta Going to Wizards Does Not Impress Stephen A. Smith: “They’ve Been an Abomination”
• Jaylen Brown’s Celtics Future Up in the Air With Trade Discussions in Full Swing