Nets Expected To Be Top Contender For Austin Reaves
- Dominic Konareski
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
The Knicks are champions as the Brooklyn Nets continue to wonder what went wrong with their big three that ended up not being so big. This offseason will be a big one for New York basketball, as the Knicks will likely retain and extend who they can to run it back, with the Nets looking to continue their rebuild in becoming a playoff contender again.
Per Dan Woike, the Brooklyn Nets are expected to offer free agent Austin Reaves a four-year contract worth $178.5 million. Brooklyn will be contending with other expected teams such as Hawks and Pistons for the 28-year-old shooting guard.
The Brooklyn Nets are coming off of a 20-62 win season that saw them just three wins shy of being last place in the Eastern Conference. Brooklyn is a young team with a lot of raw talent still untapped. The Nets had a roster with an average age of just 23.36 years old throughout the season, with Tre Scott and Terance Mann being the oldest on the team at 29-years-old, as the team has loaded up on youth in part of their rebuilding era.
A player like Austin Reaves would help to give the Nets a veteran presence in the locker room, despite him just being on the cusp of veteran status, and see Brooklyn get one of the most consistent shooters in the league.
Despite early interest from other teams, the Lakers are widely expected to re-sign Reaves, who has been in Los Angeles his entire career. Reaves has become a clear and persistent backcourt presence in LA, not to mention a blossoming partnership with Luka Doncic. He originally re-signed with the Lakers during his first free agency stint in 2023. The deal was for four-years and around the $54 million mark, which has been a contract he has greatly outplayed since the signing.
In 331 career games, Reaves has averaged 15.8 points with the number being affected by lower production rates in his rookie and second seasons. Since the 2023/24 season, Reaves has averaged 19.2 points across 206 games (175 starts), with 5.6 assists and 4.5 total rebounds.
Overall, Reaves is a downtown threat and a three-point asset for any team he is on, with over 500 career three-pointers made, Reaves averages around the 36% mark on his career. He is not an elite volume shooter, but is at the same time not far from being considered one. Reaves’ efficiency to hit timely, high-pressure shots from being the arc has made him a reliable deep threat who does not succumb to pressure.
2025/26 featured 51 games for Reaves due to him being sidelined with multiple leg injuries. A left calf strain saw him miss 19 games and a Grade 2 left oblique strain in early April had him sidelined for the remainder of the regular season.
Free agency is set to begin at 6 pm ET on June 30th.
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