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 highly taxing to 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 with the opportunity for a big payday. According to ESPN‘s Bobby Marks, he could be paid as much as $241 million over five years with LA, or $178.5 million over four years.

That’s why Rob Pelinka’s front office hasn’t flinched. LA is likely to hold onto Reaves, mainly after he emerged 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 the Lakers a building block with no evident young talent next to Doncic. Players like Reaves, who rose from undrafted status to these heights, don’t come around often. The Lakers know this internally, too.

“[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 inferior optics.

These factors, combined with Reaves’s admitted love of Lakerland, suggest that Pelinka and the management will find a way to pay Reaves that amount, perhaps even by asking James, with an expiring contract, to take a pay cut. Only time will tell how the situation ends up, but expect the Lakers to keep Reaves.