Jazz will have ‘big interest’ in Austin Reaves this summer

Jan. 18, 2026, 7:00 a.m. PT

Until he suffered a gastrocnemius strain in late December, Austin Reaves was having yet another breakout season for the Los Angeles Lakers. The undrafted guard is averaging 26.6 points and 6.3 assists while shooting 50.7% from the field and 36.5% from 3-point range, and he has gotten a solid number of votes in the balloting for this year’s NBA All-Star Game.

He has one season left on his contract after this one, and he’s expected to opt out of his contract this summer in order to receive a big payday. All indications are that he and the Lakers will work toward getting a new deal done so that he can stay put, but it isn’t necessarily a foregone conclusion that he will remain with them past this season.

There should certainly be at least a couple of other teams that will try to nab him this offseason. Analyst and podcaster Kevin O’Connor said on his eponymous show that the Utah Jazz will be one team that will go after Reaves (h/t SLC Dunk).

“I think the Utah Jazz are going to be a team that has big interest in Austin Reaves this summer. There are going to be teams that make a big max offer for Reaves, and he’s going to have that choice. So the Lakers—like, Rich Paul’s not saying it—but I’m sure Rich Paul has that same exact information about where Reaves could go this offseason.”

O’Connor added that the chance of losing Reaves this summer could be a reason for the Lakers to trade him before the Feb. 5 trade deadline. He mentioned Trey Murphy III as an ideal trade target and said he likes Murphy better than Reaves on this particular Lakers team.

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Murphy is an athletic 6-foot-8 forward who is averaging 22.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals a game while shooting 49.8% from the field and 38.8% from 3-point range this season. While his New Orleans Pelicans are in last place in the Western Conference with a 10-34 record, at least one report has indicated that they’re not inclined to make a significant trade right now.