The Los Angeles Lakers will reportedly face stiff competition from the San Antonio Spurs in trying to retain Austin Reaves during the 2026 free agency.
According to ClutchPoints’ Anthony Irwin, Reaves, who reportedly turned down a four-year, $89 million extension from the Lakers this summer, will be a highly coveted free agent in 2026, with teams offering up to $35 million to sign him.
“If/when Reaves opts out of his current contract, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent with plenty of interest,” Irwin reported on September 17. League sources say the San Antonio Spurs and other teams are keeping a close eye on Reaves’ free agency.
Austin Reaves to Hit Free Agency
Irwin noted that Reaves is most likely to turn down his $14.9 million player option for the 2026-27 season and test free agency. In such a scenario, the Lakers will be able to offer him more money than other suitors, but could be hesitant to meet his asking price. The Lakers previously offered Reaves less than $25 million per season, which the budding star rejected, making his intentions clear to test the market in 2026.
“In all likelihood, Reaves will turn down his player option after this season and could command a contract in the ballpark of $30 to $35 million per year.
Sources close to the situation say both he and the Lakers would like to continue their relationship for the foreseeable future, but doing so will only make sense if he and [Luka] Doncic can prove they are a championship-caliber pairing.”
The Lakers reportedly remain hesitant to offer Reaves north of $30 million due to his defensive woes and his backcourt pairing with Luka Doncic.
Reaves’ Defense a Concern
This concern was further relayed by Irwin, who believes the Lakers prefer to play out the 2025-26 season before assessing Reaves’ true worth and whether he’s worth the high asking price.
“If Reaves does improve defensively, then he and Doncic can be the building blocks LA sees them as, but make no mistake, they will have to overwhelm offensively to make up for their defensive concerns,” wrote Irwin.
On this front, sources close to the Lakers say Reaves has focused on shooting and attacking off the catch. This isn’t to say Reaves has ignored ball handling and creating for others altogether, only that, while playing on a team with Doncic and LeBron James, he knows he’ll have to be ready to produce in smaller windows.
Reaves and Doncic struggled mightily on the defensive end against the Minnesota Timberwolves, resulting in the Lakers losing in five games in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs. ESPN’s Kevin Pelton is not convinced that the Lakers will improve defensively in the upcoming season due to their poor point-of-attack defense.
“Biggest roster hole: On-ball defense,” Pelton said of the Lakers, previewing the new season.
“As potent as the Lakers’ perimeter trio of Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves is offensively, it’s limited defensively,” he added. “Dorian Finney-Smith, now in Houston, served as the Lakers’ perimeter stopper after the deadline. They added Marcus Smart, but at this stage of his career, Smart might be better against big opponents than defending the point of attack.”
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