Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Multiple teams are actively shaping their rosters this offseason despite the NBA Finals still ongoing.
- One star guard from a historic franchise is demanding top-tier money while a young contender has shifted focus away from a marquee free agent.
- The next moves for these franchises will test their long-term strategies and could define their championship windows.
The New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs may be in the midst of the NBA Finals, but that does not mean the other 28 teams are sitting around watching to see who will hoist the Larry O'Brein Trophy.
Everyone else is diligently working to make sure that they will be one of the last two teams standing while everyone else is at home. With this in mind, here are a couple of the recent rumors swirling around.
Austin Reaves names his price
Austin Reaves has a player option for next season (for just under $15 million) that he will almost definitely decline, which will make him a free agent. As the Los Angeles Lakers' second-best player, the team is going to do what they can to bring back Luka Dončić's marquee running mate. Unfortunately, it seems that Reaves isn't willing to give the only team he's ever played for a break.
Brad Turner of the LA Times recently reported that Reaves is looking for a max contract, and he probably will not give the Lakers a hometown discount.
For Reaves, a max contract would be five years, $241 million. That is an average annual value of $48.2 million. Reaves is coming off a career year where he averaged 23.3 points per game, but injuries relegated him to just 51 games. Based on my formula for estimating production value, if Reaves can maintain his impact from last year while playing 65 games, he'd be worth roughly $37.2 million dollars in 2026-27.
So, unless Reaves takes another step forward or is really healthy (neither of which is out of the question given that he's 28 and played in all 82 games just two years ago), a max contract would be a slight overpay, but that is what it may take for the Lakers' to retain their star guard.
The Thunder are out of the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes
Arguably the biggest storyline of this offseason revolves around Giannis Antetokounmpo and whether the two-time MVP will be playing for someone other than the Milwaukee Bucks.
One team that some people believed would be in the Antetokounmpo business is the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have a treasure trove of assets and could use his size, length, and agility to counter Victor Wembanyama (who will be an obstacle they have to overcome for years to come).
However, it appears the Thunder are not in the Antetokounmpo sweepstakes. Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman recently reported that the Thunder are not trading for Antetokounmpo, and they also have no intentions of trading Chet Holmgren, despite his underwhelming showing agains the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.
Sam Presti and the Thunder front office understand that they came incredibly close to beating the Thunder, despite playing without two of their four best players (Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell) for most of the series. Plus, they are skeptical that Antetokounmpo will be able to stay healthy for an entire postseason run at this point in his career
Portland Trail Blazers head coaching search is down to three candidates
The Portland Trail Blazers still do not have their head coach for next season. However, they are getting closer to solidifying that position, as the search has now narrowed down to three candidates.
According to NBA Insiders Jake Fischer and Marc Stein, those three individuals are Tiago Splitter (who served as the Blazers' interim head coach after Chauncey Billups was suspended indefinitely after the first game of the season), Micah Nori (of the Minnesota Timberwolves), and Tyler Lashbrook (of the Boston Celtics).
Outside of Splitter, none of these guys have experience being NBA head coaches, and even Splitter has only ever carried the interim tag. So, whoever it is, it looks like the Blazers will be looking for a younger person with newer ideas to help guide the team after it made its first playoff appearance since 2021 this season.
Outside of those three, Jeff Van Gundy (of the Los Angeles Clippers) and Mike Williams (of the Utah Jazz) also interviewed for the job.
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