{"id":496584,"date":"2026-05-12T16:31:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T14:31:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=496584"},"modified":"2026-05-12T16:31:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T14:31:16","slug":"lakers-offseason-reaves-eyeing-40m-ayton-could-opt-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/lakers-offseason-reaves-eyeing-40m-ayton-could-opt-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Offseason: Reaves Eyeing $40M, Ayton Could Opt Out"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-path-to-node=\"12\">Following their second-round exit against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Los Angeles Lakers are facing a pivotal offseason. According to <i data-path-to-node=\"12\" data-index-in-node=\"151\">The Athletic<\/i>, the front office must navigate the complex free agency waters surrounding <b data-path-to-node=\"12\" data-index-in-node=\"239\">Austin Reaves<\/b> and <b data-path-to-node=\"12\" data-index-in-node=\"257\">Deandre Ayton<\/b>.<\/p>\n<h4 data-path-to-node=\"13\"><b data-path-to-node=\"13\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">The $40 Million Question: Austin Reaves<\/b><\/h4>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"14\">Austin Reaves has evolved into a legitimate star alongside <b data-path-to-node=\"14\" data-index-in-node=\"59\">Luka Doncic<\/b>, averaging 23.3 points per game this season. As he prepares to decline his $14.9 million player option, rival executives believe Reaves could command up to <b data-path-to-node=\"14\" data-index-in-node=\"227\">$40 million annually<\/b> on the open market. While the Lakers hold his Bird Rights and can offer a five-year max extension, the &#8220;open door&#8221; for a massive offer from a rival team remains a significant threat to LA&#8217;s stability.<\/p>\n<h4 data-path-to-node=\"15\"><b data-path-to-node=\"15\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Deandre Ayton\u2019s Uncertain Future<\/b><\/h4>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"16\">Deandre Ayton is another key name to watch. After a bounce-back season where he averaged 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds, the former #1 overall pick holds an <b data-path-to-node=\"16\" data-index-in-node=\"155\">$8.1 million player option<\/b>. Per league sources, Ayton is considering opting out to secure a longer, more lucrative deal. While his fit in JJ Redick\u2019s system has been questioned after the OKC sweep, his defensive presence makes him an intriguing target for teams looking for a starting-caliber center in a thin market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Austin Reaves\u2019 market value is skyrocketing, while Deandre Ayton contemplates free agency after the Lakers&#8217; playoff exit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":372083,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_spbk_hide_featured":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[399],"tags":[],"rumors":[175],"typology":[183],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-496584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","rumors-nba-rumors","typology-rumors"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/02\/Los-Angeles-Lakers.jpg","digistream_id":0,"digistream":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496584"},{"taxonomy":"rumors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rumors?post=496584"},{"taxonomy":"typology","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/typology?post=496584"},{"taxonomy":"posizionamento","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posizionamento?post=496584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}