Utah Jazz's Austin Reaves Hopes May Have Just Been Shot Down

The Utah Jazz might be out of luck when it comes to a pursuit of Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves.

Reaves, the Lakers' 27-year-old star guard, is slated to hit unrestricted free agency later this year after declining his $14 million player option signed on with the Lakers.

That will give other teams around the league their chance to offer Reaves a contract if interested, and the Jazz had been among those rumored in the mix with interest in him.

However, according to Ashish Mathur of Lakers Daily, the Lakers have "no fear" of losing Reaves in free agency this year, as they plan to offer him a five-year deal upwards of $200 million.

"The Los Angeles Lakers plan to offer Austin Reaves a five-year, $240 million contract this offseason once unrestricted free agency begins, sources told Lakers Daily... Reaves will decline his player option for next season to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, sources said. The Lakers have 'no fear' of losing the talented undrafted guard, who wants to spend his entire career with the Purple and Gold, sources said."

Lakers Have "No Fear" of Losing Austin Reaves

It comes as no surprise that the Lakers have a good bit of interest in retaining one of their top free agents of this offseason, but at a number as high as $240 million, it may just price out any other interested team from pursuing him— hence their reported "no fear" of losing him on the open market.

Reaves is in the midst of a career-best season for the Lakers when he's been on the floor, playing in 39 games to average 23.7 points on 49.5% shooting from the field with 4.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists a game.

Nov 18, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) is congratulated by forward LeBron James (23) and guard Luka Doncic (77) after a three-point basket in the second quarter at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

For any team looking for an upgrade on the wing, particularly for an offensive-minded guard like Reaves, a splash signing that lures him away from the Lakers would certainly be a tantalizing idea to consider.

As it pertains to the Jazz, a signing of Reaves could place him nicely into a backcourt of Keyonte George for a dangerous two-man scoring tandem, and a top guard duo in the West.

But while intriguing, it might be out of the realm of possibilities when factoring in both Reaves' value on the market and their own pending contract situation revolving around defensive anchor Walker Kessler.

Kessler, who's set to hit restricted free agency this summer with interest around the league, will be a priority for the Jazz to re-sign and iron out their frontcourt. That deal for Kessler sits higher on the to-do list than any pursuit of an outside free agent like Reaves. It will likely be an expensive one that sits over $100 million in total value.

Combine that deal with the existing contracts already on the roster like Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. both at over $45 million in annual value, along with the pending rookie extension set to develop this offseason for Keyonte George, the bill for this roster is set to be pretty steep real soon.

With that in mind, you might as well remove Reaves from the board of realistic free agents Utah could pick up this summer, as well as any other big-name player that's commanding upwards of $200 million.

Instead, the Jazz will roll into their 2026-27 campaign set up with a backcourt of George and Ace Bailey in his second season, rounded out by a frontcourt of Markkanen, Jackson Jr., and Kessler; shaping up to be a dangerous five-man unit as is, and one that could contend for a postseason spot in the West as soon as next year.