The noise around the Los Angeles Lakers is always loud, and with the trade deadline less than 48 hours away, they find themselves in familiar territory. Rumors and nonstop speculation ran rampant, and Austin Reaves sits in the middle of all of it. But it’s not because of the usual reasons fans might think of, and head coach JJ Redick explained that tonight.

“I’ve said this a number of times, but all these guys have a lot on their minds because of their contract situations, the trade deadline,” Redick told reporters after tonight’s game against the Brooklyn Nets. “Certainly, Austin is in line for a pretty significant raise, and I think having that confidence in your body is huge.”

The mental and physical effort for rehab is extremely taxing for most players, and pushing through that uncertainty isn’t how LA wants to operate. We all know about Reaves’ injury. After starting the season averaging career-highs across the board, the guard went down with a calf strain, and his return tonight wasn’t entirely seamless.

In 20 minutes off the bench, Reaves shot poorly and turned the ball over a lot, but still managed to get to the line to keep his scoring up. However, the Lakers are fine being patient: they need his body to be ready before he can shoulder real responsibility again.

Reaves declined a four-year, $89 million extension in the offseason, a move everyone around the league understood as a bet on himself. There’s little doubt that he’ll decline his player option, especially by being eligible for a big payday. According to ESPN‘s Bobby Marks, he could be paid as much as a five-year, $241 million contract with LA, or a four-year, $178.5 million.

That’s why Rob Pelinka’s front office hasn’t flinched. LA is likely to hold onto Reaves, especially with him emerging as a clear piece to supplement superstar Luka Doncic as LeBron James slowly takes a backseat in his advanced age.

Why the Los Angeles Lakers Are Treating Austin Reaves as Untouchable

Austin Reaves’ on-court production has clearly taken a big leap this season, and his emergence has given a Lakers team with no clear young talent next to Doncic a building block. Players like Reaves, who grew to these heights from undrafted status, don’t come around often. The Lakers know this internally too.

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“[Jeanie Buss is] still the governor of that team,” NBA insider Sam Amick previously reported. “I bring that up because she’s the captain of the Austin Reaves fan club, and Rob Pelinka is a huge fan as well.”

Reaves is one of the greatest success stories of the LeBron James era of the Lakers in terms of player development, next to perhaps fellow undrafted guard and two-time champion Alex Caruso. Not keeping the player viewed as a cultural centerpiece and an ownership favorite would be extremely poor optics.

These factors, combined with the fact that Reaves self-admittedly loves Lakerland, seems to indicate Pelinka and the management are likely to find any way to pay Reaves that amount, perhaps even through by asking James, an expiring contract, to take a pay cut. Only time will tell how the situation ends up, but expect the Lakers to keep Reaves.