The Los Angeles Lakers have been up and down in recent weeks, currently sitting 10 games over .500 around the halfway point of the 2025-26 NBA season. Recently, Klutch Sports agent Rich Paul made headlines by publicly suggesting the Lakers trade Austin Reaves for Memphis Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr., which was not received well by some within the Los Angeles organization.
Now, former Lakers guard Isaiah Thomas is joining the chorus of backlash directed at Paul in the aftermath of the suggestion.
“I mean, first off, come on, Rich Paul. We can't be doing that. That's insane cuz that seems like a realistic trade, too.” “Like, like, and then just to know who he is and what he is to LeBron, it's like — has that been a conversation between y'all? You just never know. But I mean, I don't think he should be on any podcast talking about trades,” said Thomas, per the Point Game Podcast with Isaiah Thomas on YouTube.
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Paul was not the first person to suggest that trading Reaves for a player who has a skillset more in line with what the Lakers need might be a good idea. Reaves was enjoying a career year prior to suffering an injury a few weeks ago, but there was some concern that his offensive skillset might be a bit redundant next to LeBron James and Luka Doncic, especially considering that he doesn't do much to solve Los Angeles' problems on the defensive end of the floor.
However, for Paul, who clearly does have sway within the Lakers' organization thanks to his relationship to James, to suggest such a trade on a public platform was almost inevitably going to be met with backlash, and may have ended up lessening the possibility that the Lakers end up looking to trade Reaves.
Los Angeles will next take the court on Thursday evening against the Los Angeles Clippers.