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If WINNING is the priority, Stephen A. wants LeBron to GO HOME to the Cavs 👀 | First Take
If WINNING is the priority, Stephen A. wants LeBron to GO HOME to the Cavs 👀 | First Take
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12:47 · Jun 25, 2026
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Austin
Reaves
and
the
Lakers
reached
a
deal
yesterday
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0:00
Austin Reaves and the Lakers reached a deal yesterday
0:02
that will make him the highest-paid undrafted player in NBA history.
0:06
Reaves intends to sign a 4-year $185 million maximum contract to return to the
0:11
Lakers with a player option in
0:13
that final year of 2029-2030.
0:16
Reaves averaged over 23 points last season,
0:18
but only played in 51 games due to injury.
0:22
So, Austin Reaves is now locked up.
0:24
Luka is there for the long haul.
0:26
The question now becomes LeBron James.
0:28
Do you think LeBron James is a fit there?
0:29
What's going to happen with him now in the Lakers Shams?
0:33
>> Yeah, >> >> we still don't know
0:34
because there there hasn't been
0:36
that level of dialogue yet between these two sides with the Lakers
0:40
and LeBron James side.
0:41
That's my understanding of the situation.
0:43
LeBron James has been abroad.
0:44
He's been traveling.
0:45
He's been spending time with his family with obviously the Cavs old 2016 >>
0:50
there playing golf. >> championship team.
0:52
>> He's back where he belongs playing golf.
0:54
>> On the golf course in Akron.
0:55
>> That's where I was raised.
0:57
>> There there hasn't seemed to be
0:59
that level of urgency from his side
1:02
as of yet.
1:03
But free agency is just 5 days away.
1:05
So, that could obviously change on a dime.
1:08
From the Lakers perspective though, there's an order of business that happens, right?
1:11
First order of business, yes, before LeBron was getting Austin Reaves done.
1:16
That was their big free agent
1:17
because they knew that there was there was significant risk out there
1:22
that you were going to potentially lose him.
1:23
If he hit the market, the Detroit Pistons were coming for Austin Reaves,
1:27
and the Lakers had an understanding
1:28
that they were going to be coming with a near maximum level contract.
1:31
And so, there was some back and forth.
1:33
There was a free agent meeting
1:35
that the Lakers had with Austin Reaves
1:36
and his agents right after the NBA Finals week
1:38
and negotiate with your own free agents where they were playing his favorite country
1:42
music.
1:43
They were giving him pillows with AR initials on them.
1:47
They were doing it everything they could to add
1:49
that personal touch to make him feel
1:52
that he was wanted back in LA.
1:54
But what matters most?
1:55
It's the money.
1:56
And so, they finally it took them 10 days,
1:58
they finally reached an agreement. 4 years, $185 million.
2:01
And what I think about personally,
2:03
I've covered Austin Reaves since his since he got in the league,
2:05
this guy came in undrafted, two-way contract.
2:09
He was running errands for Russell Westbrook.
2:11
I remember hearing this in training camp when this team was in Vegas.
2:15
And Russell Westbrook was a great vet for him.
2:16
He was going out
2:17
and getting body wash
2:18
and deodorant and like whatever Russell Westbrook needed.
2:21
>> Sounds like a great vet.
2:23
>> >> Austin Reaves loved him.
2:24
Um and and now 5 years later, he signs a max contract.
2:28
This is I don't think this is a trajectory of player
2:31
that anyone saw coming.
2:32
>> Okay, so Vinnie now to you here.
2:33
We knew that there was going to be some sort of domino effect here
2:36
with the Lakers.
2:36
Now we see Austin Reaves is going to be with Luka,
2:38
that is for certain.
2:40
How does LeBron James fit into the mix in your opinion?
2:42
>> That's fascinating to me.
2:43
Because, okay, one, we have to put this out there, Wendy,
2:46
is that the money
2:47
that Austin Reaves is going to get has no effect on the Lakers practical
2:52
cap space,
2:53
right?
2:53
Like people look at the numbers and think, "Oh,
2:55
Austin Reaves is getting $40 million a year,
2:56
that means there's less money for LeBron."
2:58
Not exactly.
2:59
What happens is the Lakers have
3:01
so much money to play with to get LeBron in the books
3:05
if they want him back,
3:06
if LeBron wants to be back,
3:07
and also to fulfill all these other checkpoints
3:10
that they have to You have to get wing help,
3:13
you have to get athletic bigs,
3:14
you have to start building this team around Luka Dončić.
3:19
And maybe, you know, this Austin Reaves thing is I'm with Shams on this.
3:21
I heard from people in Detroit,
3:24
they were going to do some creative accounting to present a max offer to
3:27
Austin Reaves had he gotten the free agency.
3:29
And you don't want to bring a player to the point where you've been
3:35
in his camp all this time,
3:37
you tell him to go out and get an offer,
3:38
even if he's not unrestricted free agent, you send him out in the marketplace,
3:42
you take the risk of him taking that offer and being left with nothing.
3:47
The next order of business being LeBron is does LeBron want to be there?
3:52
Do the Lakers want him there,
3:53
which I suspect the answer at least for the latter would be yes,
3:55
because that's the best place for LeBron.
3:58
But can you fulfill all these things around Luka Dončić?
4:01
He needs help.
4:02
And now even bringing Austin Reaves back in,
4:05
you need defense cuz neither one of these guys are going to stop anybody.
4:09
>> Yeah, that's for certain.
4:09
Go ahead, Stephen A.
4:12
>> Uh well, that's one of the things that I said yesterday.
4:14
They can't stop a cold.
4:15
So, you're not leaning on Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves.
4:19
You understand to to make noise in the Western Conference.
4:22
You got to play defense.
4:23
They can score on anybody and they'll be an elite backcourt scoring the ball.
4:27
And but but defensively it's going to be a problem.
4:29
I'm one of those people, Shams, I'm right with you.
4:32
Uh Austin Reaves story is tremendous.
4:34
He deserves this money.
4:35
He earned it the right way, the hard way,
4:38
and he deserves all the props in the world.
4:40
And I'm really really happy for him, to be honest with you.
4:41
He really deserves it.
4:43
But speaking purely from a basketball standpoint, I think the urgency should have elevated,
4:47
Windy, um Vinnie, when it comes to the Lakers is keeping LeBron James.
4:51
Vinnie, I disagree with you.
4:52
The best place for LeBron James,
4:54
assuming that winning is the priority as opposed to his lifestyle,
4:57
would be going back to Cleveland.
4:58
That's what I think.
4:59
I think he I think being in Cleveland would be the best scenario for
5:04
him in terms of what he would mean to
5:06
that team,
5:07
the leadership role he would have.
5:09
We all know he's deified as well as he should be in that area.
5:13
There's no doubt about it.
5:14
I mean, they they will erect a statue for him one day
5:17
and he will deserve it.
5:19
Okay, so all of those things come with it.
5:21
I think Cleveland would definitely be a a better situation for him.
5:25
I think the resistance in the East with him on the Cleveland Cavaliers squad
5:29
squad would be significantly less than it would be with him on the Lakers
5:34
in the West from a basketball standpoint.
5:36
From a lifestyle standpoint, obviously,
5:38
Southern California is a lot better than living off Lake Erie.
5:42
Having said all of that, in the end,
5:44
what it comes down to is you're the Los Angeles Lakers
5:48
because of the absence of maneuverability
5:50
that you may have at your disposal
5:52
because of what Rob Pelinka hasn't shown us.
5:54
I root for the man, good dude.
5:56
Um you want him to to be successful.
5:59
They've had back-to-back 51 seasons for the first time since 2009 to 2011.
6:04
But the reality is is
6:05
that Luka Dončić was handed to you by Nico Harrison
6:08
and the Dallas Mavericks.
6:09
Outside of that, what have you really really done to put a team together?
6:14
And then we And that's a question mark
6:15
when you see what the Minnesota Timberwolves just did.
6:19
What you see when you see what the Spurs
6:21
and OKC did on draft night,
6:24
you just look at the Los Angeles Lakers
6:26
and before a game is even played in the Summer League,
6:30
you don't see them getting out of the first round of the Western Conference
6:34
playoffs yet again.
6:36
That's problematic.
6:37
And so for me,
6:38
you should automatically be striving to keep LeBron James
6:41
because he helps upgrade Austin Reaves
6:45
and Luka Dončić even at this point in time in his career.
6:48
But most importantly, if you don't have him,
6:51
who are you going to have to replace him?
6:53
And how do we know that the Lakers are capable of pulling that off?
6:57
Because they haven't shown us yet.
7:00
>> I invite Mr.
7:00
Smith to join us on our one of our fine Lake Erie beaches where
7:04
we can see the sunset over the water in the summer.
7:08
Um Stephen A has taught me a lot about leverage over the years
7:10
and this is this is a discussion about leverage.
7:13
Austin Reaves, from what I understand,
7:15
two days ago was somewhere around $30 million a year in his offer from
7:20
the Lakers.
7:21
It's a very good contract.
7:22
It's a far cry from what they offered him yesterday.
7:25
They offered They offered him yesterday what he agreed to was more than $45
7:27
million a year.
7:29
It's a 50% increase in like 24 hours.
7:33
That's why Austin Reaves was falling down on the golf course yesterday.
7:36
>> I saw the picture.
7:37
>> Because he got his contract or his offer up 50%.
7:40
Why?
7:42
Leverage.
7:43
Because the Detroit Pistons were lining it up.
7:45
We saw last night that they made a trade to move off Isaiah Stewart.
7:49
That cleared salary cap space.
7:50
He's coming.
7:51
He had leverage.
7:52
Now, let's talk about LeBron James' leverage.
7:55
Who is coming to offer LeBron James a big contract?
8:00
Nobody.
8:00
There's a bunch of teams that want him.
8:02
The Lakers of essentially are bidding against themselves.
8:05
So, they have to make a decision.
8:06
And this decision they've been known coming is for a while.
8:09
As Shams said, what is in Lakers' next order of business?
8:12
First order, get Austin done.
8:15
>> >> Check.
8:15
Which direction are they going?
8:17
Will they go to LeBron James and get his contract done first?
8:21
And say, "LeBron, we want to take care of you.
8:22
You are one of the top free agents.
8:24
>> >> We're going to pay you what we pay you.
8:26
Our salary cap numbers be damned.
8:28
We'll figure out how to do a trade later on.
8:30
We're going to do that."
8:31
Or will they go out and prioritize using the salary cap space,
8:35
sign or acquire guys via trade first,
8:38
and then come to LeBron James and say, "This is what we got left."
8:41
It's a tough question.
8:43
It's a really tough question.
8:44
Because if the Lakers resign LeBron James and Austin Reaves,
8:47
they've signed two of the top five free agents on the market.
8:49
That's not a question.
8:50
That's absolutely happening.
8:52
But these are the guy These are the same guys you had on the
8:54
team.
8:55
You haven't improved your roster.
8:56
And so, this is really, really difficult.
8:58
And frankly, you need LeBron James to be a partner here.
9:01
That's something we're going to watch play out in the coming days.
9:04
>> Yeah, my my understanding is not not not only the Pistons,
9:07
there were multiple max offers if Austin Reaves wanted to pursue it.
9:10
So, Stephen A knows a lot about leverage.
9:12
Austin Reaves demonstrated what leverage looks like, and the Lakers had to step up.
9:16
But what Rob Pelinka and the Lakers have been doing is pursuing parallel paths.
9:20
They're trying to figure out their own free agents, Austin Reaves,
9:22
and then now LeBron James and Rui Hachimura,
9:24
but then also they've got up to 50 million in cap space.
9:28
Well, they're waiting on potentially LeBron and Rui,
9:30
but they've also been out there being proactive.
9:32
Can we go get a player into to salary slot?
9:35
And so, that would potentially dip into whatever they can offer for LeBron James.
9:39
So there's a lot of of scenarios inside
9:42
that Lakers facility that they're trying to sift through.
9:45
>> You know, I want to say this, too.
9:47
And you know, listen,
9:49
I'm not joking about this even though it it seems that way.
9:53
Have heart at least stuff like that.
9:54
By the way, fellas,
9:55
y'all going to see me on General Hospital next month in the shirtless scene.
9:58
Just letting y'all know that it's coming.
10:00
It's coming >> No way.
10:01
Don't do it.
10:01
Don't do it, Stephen A.
10:05
>> It's already taped.
10:06
It's already taped.
10:07
>> >> I mean, in the in the Stephen A Hall of Fame of non sequiturs,
10:10
that goes to the first pick.
10:12
Congratulations.
10:12
>> There we go.
10:13
This is this is it's already taped, y'all.
10:15
It's already taped.
10:15
But here's the deal, y'all.
10:17
Seriously, when I think about last year,
10:20
what I what really resonates with me
10:22
and I think LeBron James has leverage in this regard,
10:26
when the playoffs began,
10:28
those two dudes worth about a hundred million dollars
10:32
as a backcourt per year were not available.
10:35
He was.
10:36
There's a difference between getting ready and staying ready.
10:45
And LeBron James stays ready.
10:46
I'm talking about conditioning-wise.
10:46
And don't get me wrong, I understand, Wendy, you know, Shams, Vinnie,
10:50
you're not going to offer him a long-term.
10:51
He's 41 years old.
10:53
He might retire in a year or two.
10:54
You understand?
10:55
I get that part.
10:56
But what I'm saying is that availability matters because when we talk about leverage,
11:01
what did I talk to you about, Wendy, when we talked about it?
11:04
Yeah, it's about what you do.
11:06
But it's also about what you can be trusted to do.
11:10
We know what Luka and Austin Reaves bring to the table as talent.
11:14
We know their strengths.
11:15
We know their deficiencies.
11:17
What we don't know about is their durability
11:20
and availability because it's been questionable from time to time.
11:24
Look at them.
11:25
We were raving during the season last year about Luka
11:28
and how Luka lost some weight
11:30
and oh,
11:31
look at him go.
11:31
And he really really worked out in the off season.
11:35
Yo, fellas.
11:36
I'm looking at cats and there's a few of these cats in the league.
11:40
I'm looking for some definition.
11:42
I'm looking for some muscles.
11:43
I'm looking for if not a six-pack,
11:46
at least no no semblance of a belly
11:49
or love handles or anything like
11:50
that.
11:50
I want to see some some evidence
11:53
that you're actually working in the off season.
11:56
So, when the season comes,
11:58
you're actually ready as opposed to using the season to get ready.
12:02
We don't talk about that enough.
12:04
We don't see that enough because they're all world athletes and we say fine.
12:08
But, I think when you look at the LeBrons, the Steph Currys,
12:11
even the Russell Westbrooks of the world and all like that.
12:13
There's cats that are always ready physically.
12:17
And then there are some who are not.
12:20
And that's what we have to pay attention to.
12:21
The fact that we never have to have that question about LeBron James.
12:25
I also think that along with his resume, his credentials,
12:28
and his ability and capabilities is enough leverage for him to sit up there
12:32
and say,
12:32
"Don't disrespect me."
12:34
And I get that part.
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