Reaves thought about playing with Wembanyama before returning to Lakers

Austin Reaves admits he wondered what it would be like to play alongside San Antonio Spurs rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama before re-signing with the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason.

On Tuesday's episode of "The Lowe Post with Zach Lowe," Reaves explained how even though he wanted to remain with the Lakers, he was intrigued by the idea of teaming up with Wembanyama.

"It definitely creeps into your mind, obviously, when there's a little bit of talks back and forth about something possibly coming to light," Reaves said. "But I didn't think there was any way that the Lakers didn't match whatever was offered. They pretty much made it pretty clear that they were gonna match whatever. You think about it a little bit, but at the end of the day, I wanted to be in L.A. I love it out here - love the organization, the fans. But you hear things, and obviously, with Wembanyama, so much upside with him, your mind kind of wanders into that basketball world, just what that would be like."

Reaves, who was a restricted free agent this summer, told the "All the Smoke" podcast in July that he received interest from both the Spurs and Houston Rockets before re-signing with the Lakers on a four-year, $54-million deal.

The 25-year-old averaged 13.0 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.0 rebounds across 64 games last season. In the playoffs, he averaged 16.9 points, 4.6 assists, and 4.4 rebounds to help the Lakers reach the Western Conference finals.

The Lakers will face Wembanyama and the Spurs for the first time this season on Dec. 13.