The Utah Jazz won't necessarily want to make the Los Angeles Lakers worse, but if their plans succeed this offseason, that will hurt the Lakers no matter what. The Lakers will face quite a few questions this offseason, and one of them will be Austin Reaves' next contract. He just happens to be the Jazz's primary target this summer.
Kevin O'Connor revealed as much when talking about the Lakers' current and future situation this summer. He explained how the Jazz will factor into the Lakers' Reaves situation.
LeBron, but the Reaves situation is more complicated than it appears on the surface. It’s not just “he’s young, so keep him.” Teams with lots of cap space (the Jazz) are going to make significant offers for Reaves this summer since he can be an unrestricted free agent.
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnor) December 26, 2025
Does…
Reaves has a player option for this summer, but after how well he's played this season, it feels inevitable that he will opt out of his deal and enter unrestricted free agency. He's owed almost $15 million for next season, so, should he continue his All-Star-like play this season, he's in line to make more than twice that if he opts out.
He's played so well that he could suffer a season-ending injury and still make that on the open market because of his pending unrestricted free agency (too bad Walker Kessler likely can't say the same for the exact opposite reason).
Now, maybe the Lakers have every intention of keeping Reaves. He's even said that he wants to stick around, but even if that's the case, the Jazz have the cap room to make sure they give him every penny they can. He may want to stay, but he also should give every indication that his loyalty to the Lakers has a price.
At the very least, the Jazz will force the Lakers to pay up
Reaves has been floated as a Jazz target for some time now. He has been one of the NBA's most remarkable stories over the past few years, taking a leap seemingly every season. Adding him to a team with Kessler (presumably), Lauri Markkanen, ascending Keyonte George, ascending Ace Bailey, and a high lottery pick (presumably) has a lot of appeal on top of a nice payday.
Even if their Reaves pursuit fails, Utah should at least manage to make Los Angeles squirm a bit with the money they can offer Reaves. Even if Reaves leverages their offer, the Lakers will have to pay top dollar for one of their best players while still dealing with a lot of long-term questions about the team's directions.
It's like they say, money talks. The Jazz will certainly be aware that the odds are not in their favor to land Reaves, but at least they've played the free agency game well enough to be right there in the conversation. It's not the end of the world if Reaves doesn't pick them, but it is cool to know that they have the means to force the Lakers' hand when the opportunity comes.