Los Angeles Lakers had to bow out of the competition after facing a humiliating defeat against Denver Nuggets. The top seed of the Western Conference blew away the 17-time champions by 4-0 in the conference finals. Although in similar circumstances three years ago, the Lakers ended on the winning side against the Nuggets. However, history has not repeated itself this time. But LA fans indeed hoped for a good fight from the home side in the last two games. Anyway, the series ended in four games.
Perhaps even the Denver franchise did not hope for such a dominating win against the side of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. But it is in the past now. Now, the front office of the Los Angeles Lakers will need to focus completely on keeping valuable assets for the future. Apparently, nobody knows when James or Davis might choose to leave the franchise or want to get traded. However, other than these veteran players, the Lakers are hoping to keep some of the young guns who are good prospects for the side. And looks like Austin Reaves and newly added Rui Hachimura are the names on that list.
The Lakers Won’t Give Up Austin Reaves And Rui Hachimura
Every NBA fan and expert knew that in the offseason, Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell would become an unrestricted free agent. On the other hand, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura will be restricted free agents. Rui and D’Lo have impressed everybody since they joined the Lakers in February. And Austin Reaves really blossomed to be an emerging star this season. Undoubtedly, they are handy assets who Lakers would not want to let go of. As a result, an NBA source and insider Marc Stein suggested that Los Angeles Lakers would match any offer to keep Reaves and Hachimura.
Other teams interested would possibly offer Austin Reaves around $51 million for four years. Despite that amount being the maximum Lakers can offer, the front office won’t let the emerging star go that easy. Previously, Reaves has mentioned that he wants to be a forever part of the Los Angeles Lakers. But he may not know if other teams are willing to offer him $98 million for the next 5-10 years. Right now, it seems hard to digest the fact that the Lakers can afford to match that offer because they don’t have much cap space due to their top two stars.
Rui And Reaves Have Impressed Everybody This Playoff Season
Clearly, the Lakers have been lucky to sign a player like Austin Reaves, with such a high IQ of the game but not much experience. He did not cost as much but contributed as well as any of the players on the roster. Similarly, Rui Hachimura expressed how much he appreciates the experience of being part of the Los Angeles side. Hence, keeping in view his remarkable performances in the playoffs, other teams would like to offer him a big sum as well. As a result, the Los Angeles side won’t mind paying him $18.8 million per year.
Hachimura has made a lot of money with endorsement deals since he joined the Lakers. In the series against Denver Nuggets, Austin Reaves scored three 20+ points. And Rui Hachimura caught the limelight with his performances against the Grizzlies in the playoffs and has impressed everybody since then.
