Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group, who represents four players (LeBron James, Bronny James, Jarred Vanderbilt, Adou Thiero) on the Los Angeles Lakers, recently said on his podcast with Max Kellerman that the Lakers should trade Austin Reaves to the Memphis Grizzlies for Jaren Jackson Jr.
Before that, Paul said the Lakers are not championship contenders as currently constructed.
As expected, people within the Lakers organization are not happy with Paul’s comments, according to Jovan Buha, and one NBA executive ripped Paul for his comments.
REPORT: People within the Lakers organization haven’t been happy with Rich Paul’s podcast, especially since saying they’re not contenders and most recently suggesting to trade Austin Reaves for Jaren Jackson Jr.
(via @jovanbuha)pic.twitter.com/Km7Nt90Z8o
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) January 13, 2026
“I have no idea what Rich is doing,” the NBA executive told Lakers Daily. “We have never seen an agent for a star player have a podcast while that star player is still playing and say such outlandish things. Are the Lakers contenders? Hell no. But you don’t say that out loud. Now everyone on the Lakers is wondering if LeBron is saying that behind the scenes.
“And the Austin-Jaren trade idea is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard anyone say. Rich is smarter than this. I don’t know why he’s doing this. You heard Jake [LaRavia] say a couple of weeks ago that there’s a disconnect in the locker room. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s referring to Rich’s comments.
“Everyone knows LeBron loves Austin, so why is Rich saying this? He has ruined whatever good vibes the Lakers had. This team will never recover from this. It’s going to get ugly.”
Reaves is currently out with an injury, and it’s unknown when he’ll be back. He’s not required to speak to the media since he’s injured, so we don’t know how he feels about Paul’s comments.
The Lakers are 4-4 since Reaves got hurt on Christmas Day against the Houston Rockets.
James, 41, becomes an unrestricted free agent this offseason, but even if he leaves the Lakers, Bronny, Vanderbilt and Thiero are still on the team, meaning Rob Pelinka and Co. will still have to deal with Paul.
As of this writing, no one has asked James about Paul’s comments.