The biggest storyline surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers entering the offseason was Austin Reaves‘ restricted free agency. Reaves played a huge part in the Lake Show making it to the Western Conference Finals and as a result, was increasing his value in free agency in the process.
Los Angeles could only sign Reaves to a deal just over $60 million but had the ability to match any other deal he signed, which could have gone up to as much as $100 million. At the very least, it seemed likely that another team would sign Reaves to the max offer sheet solely to make the Lakers pay more.