Bill Plaschke: Lakers' Austin Reaves got paid, now he needs to earn it

Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times on Jun 24, 2026

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LOS ANGELES — He's no longer a cute little kid.

He's a $185 million man.

He's no longer a quintessential underdog routinely pardoned for his bad defense, his questionable durability and his tendency to tighten up in the playoffs.

He's a big dog who needs to own it.

Austin Reaves, the most beloved Laker, became the most scrutinized Laker on Wednesday with the news that he agreed to a maximum four-year, $185 million contract to remain with the team.

Kudos to him for becoming the highest paid undrafted player in league history.

Props to him for declining a rich extension offer last summer to play out the season and bet on himself.

Congrats to the Lakers for turning a homegrown talent into a budding superstar.

Seriously, it makes you just want to hug that unkempt, headband-wearing dude and let him know how his everyman story resonates with the masses.

Except that story is finished. That book has been closed. A new volume has begun.

It's called, "Is Austin Reaves Worth It?"

Thus far, the answer has been no.

Flash back to May, the opener of the Western Conference semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. a week after he had returned to the court following a month-long absence with an oblique injury.

The Lakers needed Reaves to set the tone. He instead laid an egg, shooting 3 for 16 from the field and 0 for 5 from beyond the arc, his body knocked clear to Tulsa by a physical Thunder defense.

Two games later, same thing, he shoots 5 for 13 and 1 for 5 from deep, allowing the Thunder to pound him to a pulp.

With Luka Doncic out and LeBron James exhausted, the Lakers desperately needed Reaves to pick up the slack. He dropped it, again and again, and the Lakers were swept.

It was the same thing in the spring of 2025, when Reaves crumbled in the first-round series-clinching loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, shooting 5 for 14 and 2 for 10 in a performance that was, as usual, generally overlooked because he tried so hard and accepted his shortcomings so honestly.

That's not going to work anymore. That's not going to be enough anymore.

With this new deal, Reaves becomes the Lakers' second cornerstone along with Luka Doncic. They are now officially a one-two punch. They are now a twin-engine scoring machine that can rival any similar duo in the NBA.

Doncic has lived up to his end of the bargain. Will Reaves?

And what about defense? For $185 million you'd think you could get some defense. Doncic needs his running mate to compensate for his questionable defensive skills, and Reaves has yet to do that.

Simply by earning his way on to the Lakers roster five years ago, Reaves has been a great role model for everyone who has ever been ignored or shunned or marginalized. But did the Lakers fall in love with his legend and ignore his frailties?

Yes, he averaged 23 points per game last year season. But he only played in a career-low 51 games because of calf and oblique injuries, but will he add the muscle required to fend off such problems in the future?

Yes, he has been a great interview while admirably and publicly holding himself and his teammates accountable. But he's always been able to lead from the shadows. How will he react when 185 million microphones are pointed at him?

In a postgame interview after the Lakers' final loss against Oklahoma City this spring, Reaves was at his aw-shucks best.

"I take life day by day and I'm just blessed to have an opportunity to play for this organization, play a kid's game," he said, "I make good money. But like I said, I don't think about what I'm really going to do in the future, just day-by-day."

That tone has to change. He now has to think about the future because he is the future, of this team, of this organization, of the hopes of this city.

With all of Reaves' shortcomings, one can almost see the unsentimental Dodgers officials looking at Wednesday's news and saying, "Wait, they did what?"

But in the end, the Lakers didn't really have a choice. There wasn't a free agent available who could match Reaves' prolific shooting, and nobody who could match the Laker-centric story of his personal journey.

Renowned softie Rob Pelinka, who should count Reaves as one of his greatest successes, was so moved by the opportunity to bring him back that he mentioned the Lakers colors when answering a question about him.

"He started his journey here as a Laker and has made it very clear to us that he wants his journey to continue as a Laker," Pelinka said during exit interviews this spring. "We want his odyssey to continue to unfold in the Purple and Gold."

And so it will, for at least several more years, Austin Reaves now occupying a Laker leading sidekick role made famous during their championship years by the likes of Anthony Davis and Pau Gasol.

How sweet. How scary.