Savannah James, LeBron James, and Rich Paul
© David Richard/Imagn
Not for the first time this season, Rich Paul, the agent for Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, appears to be causing turmoil within the Lakers’ organization.
Earlier this season, Paul came under fire when he went on his podcast and stated that Los Angeles was not a championship contender as currently constructed, and even hinted at the idea of James being open to a trade to the New York Knicks.
Now, Paul appears to be advocating for the Lakers trading one of their best players in pursuit of a big man that was recently rumored to be on the market.
Rich Paul Wants Lakers To Trade Austin Reaves For Jaren Jackson Jr.
On a recent episode of the “Game Over Podcast” with Paul and Max Kellerman, James’ agent proposed the idea of Los Angeles trading star guard Austin Reaves for Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr.
Rich Paul says if he ran the Lakers, he would call Memphis Grizzlies to trade for Jaren Jackson Jr for a package with Austin Reaves 😳
“If I was the Lakers I would be targeting the Memphis Grizzlies as a trade partner for Jaren Jackson… If you’re building around Luka you need… pic.twitter.com/vEj647cWfT
— Heat Central (@HeatCulture13) January 12, 2026
“If I was the Lakers I would be targeting the Memphis Grizzlies as a trade partner for Jaren Jackson,” Paul said. “You got to figure out the package. Someway, somehow, I’d be trying to get Jaren Jackson and maybe get back GG Jackson. He’s a young player that you can develop.
“This comes with a very unemotional attachment because Austin is beloved. He’s an underdog. Here’s the thing – there’s a world where you can do what’s best for your team and do what’s best for Austin because Austin deserves to get paid.”
Now, it would be bad enough for any agent to voice this idea so publicly. It puts all of their clients in LA and Memphis in a weird spot.
But it’s especially egregious for the agent of LeBron James.
Let’s face it, if LeBron James said “jump,” it’s Rich Paul’s job to ask, “how high?”
So Paul isn’t saying something like this without either James’ prompting, or at very least his consent. Meanwhile, it causes even more dissension in a messy Lakers locker room.
Is Rich Paul trying to undermine the Lakers? Probably not. But if he isn’t, he’s sure doing a good job of doing so either way.