Why 2016 LeBron James teammate thought Lakers’ Austin Reaves extension was ‘odd’

The Los Angeles Lakers recently made headlines by signing Austin Reaves to a new contract worth $185 million over four years. The move keeps the talented scorer on the Lakers over the long haul and solidifies their commitment to building around Reaves and Luka Dončić.

Still, not everyone is on board with the signing, including Iman Shumpert, who won an NBA championship in 2016 as Lakers star LeBron James’ teammate with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“I thought it was odd … to sign a guy [who was] having issues defensively. … I do now understand it, now that you’ve let me know that Detroit was gonna knock at his door,” said Shumpert, per NBA on ESPN on X, formerly Twitter.

Indeed, many have pointed out that winning with your two highest-paid players as defensive liabilities is essentially impossible in today’s NBA, and that’s exactly the situation that the Lakers now find themselves in with Reaves and Doncic. However, as Shumpert referenced, the Detroit Pistons were rumored to have interest in prying Reaves away from Los Angeles, so Rob Pelinka and company had to make him a big offer, or risk losing him for nothing.

While defense and durability are both concerns, Reaves is one of the league’s more talented perimeter scorers when healthy, and forms a lethal backcourt combination on offense with Doncic. Now, the big question is what the future holds for James, who is slated to hit free agency next week, with many thinking the Lakers simply can’t afford to both sign him to a big contract and fill out a competitive roster around Reaves and Doncic.

NBA free agency is slated to get underway on June 30.

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