Austin Reaves will have some options if he wants to explore a move out of the City of Angels this summer.
The Utah Jazz are expected to have “big interest” in the Los Angeles Lakers swingman Reaves, Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo! Sports reported this week on his self-titled podcast. O’Connor adds that Reaves will have multiple teams that make “big max offers” for him this week.
Reaves, 27, is currently in the middle of an extended absence with a calf injury and has not played since December. But he was looking like an All-Star candidate before going down, averaging career-best numbers of 26.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game.
The former undrafted player Reaves is making $13.9 million this season and has a $14.9 million player option for next season. But Reaves will assuredly be declining that option over the summer as his strong 2025-26 campaign has put him in a position to command a max contract.
As for the Jazz, they are a very interesting suitor, even at just 14-27 this season. Utah has more than enough cap space to sign Reaves as Lauri Markkanen is their only player making more than a guaranteed $10 million next season (second highest-paid player Jusuf Nurkic will come off the books in the summer and third highest-paid player Kyle Anderson is on a non-guaranteed deal for next season).
In Los Angeles, Reaves will always be the No. 2 option behind superstar teammate Luka Doncic. Considering that Reaves turned down a big extension offer from the Lakers last summer, a max contract and a chance to be the No. 1 option elsewhere could end up being very tempting for him.
