Lakers, Austin Reaves at $21 million contract raise dilemma, with no help from Bulls, Nets, Jazz

Lakers, Austin Reaves at $21 million contract raise dilemma, with no help from Bulls, Nets, Jazz originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

It's been looming as an undercurrent throughout this season, and the Los Angeles Lakers will be able to avoid the topic for at least a little longer.

But when this playoff term is over for the Lakers, Austin Reaves' contract situation will come to the forefront.

Reaves has a player option on his contract for the 2026-27 season, but it's for just $14.5 million, so he'll be declining that to become a free agent.

At that point, the Lakers have to decide what to do next.

ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst broke his situation down in a new article on Tuesday, before the Lakers' open their second-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

They also got an informative quote from a Western Conference GM, who isn't sure who the Lakers will be bidding against.

"[Reaves'] cap hold is $21 million and he'll want the Lakers to pay him significantly more than that," a West general manager told the ESPN duo. "What isn't clear is who the Lakers will be bidding against, because the [cap] space teams like the , and may not be in the market. The best path for him is probably to come off this [oblique] injury, have a great showing against the Thunder and apply pressure to the Lakers to keep him at all costs."