Why Spurs should not pursue Austin Reaves in 2026 free agency

According to reporting from ClutchPoints' Anthony Irwin, Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves could command $30M–35M per year in 2026 and the San Antonio Spurs are among the teams expected to monitor his market. 

It makes sense: Reaves is good, young(ish) and playoff-tested. But for the Spurs, the fit and the price don’t add up.

San Antonio Spurs already have their backcourt

This isn’t last year’s “find a guard for Victor Wembanyama” conversation. The Spurs solved their lead-guard problem when they traded for De’Aaron Fox in February and then locked him into a four-year, $229M extension through 2030. 

They also drafted Dylan Harper at No. 2 in 2025 to grow alongside Wembanyama, and they already have Stephon Castle (the 2024-25 Rookie of the Year) and Devin Vassell in the perimeter core. That’s a lot of ball-handling and usage to layer with another high-paid combo guard.

Reaves’ situation explains the noise. He declined a four-year, $89.2M extension this summer and holds a $14.9M player option for 2026-27, which he’s widely expected to decline to hit unrestricted free agency. That’s why you’re seeing $30M–35M projections floated by league reporters and aggregators. 

None of that changes San Antonio’s reality: It would be paying near-star money for a role it's already staffed, and for a timeline that isn’t perfectly aligned.

Spend the money where the roster needs it

Reaves is a high-IQ secondary creator who thrives next to stars. On a different Spurs team, he’d be a clean fit. On this one, he duplicates strengths while bigger needs linger. 

San Antonio should target a starting-caliber forward — either a rugged PF who defends, rebounds and shoots next to Wembanyama or a two-way SF who can take primary wing assignments so Wemby can roam. That’s where eight-figure dollars should go in 2026.

San Antonio already added veteran size and shooting on shorter deals, including Harrison Barnes in 2024 and recent frontcourt depth moves, signaling it values spacing and experience around Wembanyama without clogging future cap. The “big swing” money should remain earmarked for the right forward, not another guard who needs touches.

There’s also cap planning to consider. With Fox’s max now on the books and Wembanyama’s supermax looming later in the decade, tying $30M–35M to Reaves compresses flexibility right when the Spurs will want optionality for trades and role-player raises around their core. Paying a premium for redundancy is exactly how teams lose the ability to overpay a position of need when the perfect fit finally shakes loose.

None of this is anti-Reaves. He’s a winning piece, and the $30M–35M range isn’t crazy in a rising-cap world — especially if he posts another efficient season. It’s just the wrong use of resources for San Antonio’s depth chart and window. Let Fox–Castle–Harper–Vassell soak up the guard/wing reps and invest the big dollars in size and switch-ability to unlock peak Wembanyama lineups.

Bottom line: The Spurs should pass on a top-of-market Reaves bid in 2026, protect flexibility and hunt a high-impact forward who fits the Wembanyama timeline. If they get that right, they won’t need to overpay for guard offense  —and they’ll be better built for May and June.