A total of 21 NBA veterans hold player options on their contracts for the 2026/27 season, as our free agent list shows.
Those 21 players range from stars like Trae Young to minimum-salary reserves like Jericho Sims. The value of their respective options reflects that wide gap -- Young would earn nearly $49MM if he opts in for next season, whereas Sims would make approximately $2.8MM.
Still, despite the huge difference between those two players' potential '26/27 salaries, Young isn't a lock to opt in and Sims isn't a lock to opt out. Each player facing an option decision will weigh several factors, including his 2025/26 performance, his role, his age, and what sort of offers might be available to him on the open market if he chooses free agency.
Most players holding options won't have to finalize a decision until the league-wide deadline of June 29, but it's certainly not unprecedented for certain options to be exercised in April, shortly after a player's season wraps up. So we're looking ahead today at all 21 of those decisions to try to get a sense of which direction they might go.
Let's dive in...
