The Lakers and Austin Reaves will likely not be agreeing on a deal this summer as the guard reportedly turned down a max extension offer from the team.

While Austin Reaves has repeatedly stated that he wants to remain in Los Angeles to continue his basketball career, he won’t be doing it on a discount much longer.

On Thursday, Dan Woike of The Athletic reported that Reaves had declined a max extension offer from the Lakers earlier in the week, a move that is not a surprise.

League sources told The Athletic that Reaves formally declined a max extension with the Lakers this week that would’ve paid him $89.2 million over the next four seasons. He’s about to start the third year of a four-year, $54 million contract he signed as a restricted free agent in 2023 — also the max number he could receive from the Lakers at the time.

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The decision, league sources said, wasn’t a reflection of Reaves and the Lakers’ relationship. Instead, it’s almost a foregone conclusion considering the limitations placed on the amount the Lakers were allowed to offer this week.

The reason for Reaves declining this offer is the vast difference in money he can make by heading into free agency next summer. Our own Bryan Toporek not only detailed the difference already this offseason, but predicted that Reaves wouldn’t sign an extension.

According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, the Lakers’ extension offer to Reaves this offseason would top out at four years and $89.2 million with a first-year salary of $19.9 million. If Reaves bypasses that to become a free agent in 2026, he’d be eligible for a starting salary up to roughly $42.5 million on a five-year, $246.7 million max deal from the Lakers or a four-year, $182.9 million max deal from any other team.

For those bad at math, myself included, that’s nearly a $100 million difference in contracts at a minimum. Simply waiting until next summer to sign a deal will guarantee Reaves significantly more money.

Will LA be the team offering that money? Pelinka spoke about Reaves as part of the team’s core with Luka Dončić and LeBron James after the season wrapped up. Reaves, meanwhile, said as recently as this summer that he wants to be a Laker for life.

So far during his Lakers career, he has played on a bargain contract. After joining the league as an undrafted free agent, Reaves’ contracts have been limited, largely by the CBA. He signed a max deal last time he was set for free agency, but that still was a vast underpay for his production.

This time around, Reaves can finally get a deal that will match his value and skillset, so don’t expect him to make any moves until the summer of 2026.