DHJ Quick Take: Nets Prepare Massive Offer for Reaves
- Huge Offer Looming: The Brooklyn Nets are expected to aggressively pursue Austin Reaves in unrestricted free agency this offseason by offering him a massive four-year, $178.5 million maximum contract.
- Opt-Out Official: The Arkansas native is set to decline his player option with the Los Angeles Lakers to hit the open market for the first time in his career, leaving behind the four-year, $53 million deal he signed in 2023.
- Growing Bidding War: While Brooklyn is preparing a premier contract offer, they face clear competition for the talented guard, as both the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons are also strongly interested in signing Reaves.
The Brooklyn Nets are expected to offer Austin Reaves a four-year, $178.5 million contract this offseason, according to Dan Woike of The Athletic.
Reaves will decline his player option for next season with the Los Angeles Lakers and enter unrestricted free agency this offseason for the first time in his career. The Arkansas native signed a four-year, $53 million contract with the Lakers in July 2023.
Woike also reports that the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons have interest in adding Reaves.
“Multiple front-office sources around the league, granted anonymity to freely discuss an opposing player, expect Reaves to have interest from the Brooklyn Nets, with a four-year, $178.5 million contract expected to be offered,” Woike wrote. “League sources said the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks are among a group of interested teams that can create space to make competitive offers. Other teams could also emerge.”
Brooklyn had the third-worst record in the East this season at 20-62. The franchise is in deep rebuild mode.
Reaves averaged 23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game this season for the Lakers while shooting 49.0% from the field, 36.0% from beyond the arc and 87.1% from the free-throw line. He’s regarded as one of the best undrafted players in NBA history.
Reaves holds career averages of 15.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in the regular season and 17.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in the playoffs. He helped the Lakers reach the Western Conference Finals in 2023.
The Lakers went 53-29 this season. They defeated the Houston Rockets in six games in the first round of the playoffs but lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in four in the second round.
Reaves missed Games 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Rockets series with an oblique injury, while Luka Dončić missed the entire 2026 playoffs because of a severe hamstring injury.
Reaves is close with Dončić and Lakers head coach JJ Redick. Most people in the NBA expect Reaves to remain with Los Angeles.
“Provided the Lakers address other needs on the wing and at the rim, defensive concerns about a Dončić-and-Reaves pairing are overstated, one team source said,” Woike wrote. “Reaves was also one of the most important voices inside the Lakers’ locker room a season ago, his leadership developing year over year.”
The Nets have the sixth overall pick in this year’s draft. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2023.
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