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Rich Paul is wading into unprecedented territory by publicly suggesting trades that impact his clients and the teams they play on.
The Klutch Sports CEO and longtime NBA agent suggested that the Lakers should trade Austin Reaves for Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. on a recent episode of his podcast, Game Over with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul, which was released Monday by The Ringer.
“If you’re building around Luka [Dončić] going forward, which they are, you need that anchor,” Paul said. “And Jaren doesn’t want to be a part of a rebuild.”
Reaves is repped by Aaron Reilly and Reggie Berry of AMR Agency, while Jackson is a CAA client; Paul has a vested interest in what happens with the Lakers because of his famous client LeBron James.
Reaves is making roughly $14 million in the third year of a four-year, $53 million deal he signed in 2023. He is expected to opt out of the player option in his contract this summer and become an unrestricted free agent, where he could fetch a max contract for five years and $241 million.
Jackson is in the final year of a four-year rookie extension worth $105 million that he signed in 2021, and it pays $35 million this season. Next year, he begins a five-year supermax contract worth $205 million. The 26-year-old has had an underwhelming season with his scoring average down roughly four points from last year. The two players could not be traded for each other without the Lakers adding more salary in a deal.
“Memphis would definitely pay Austin,” Paul said on the episode. “He would become, probably, their point guard and leading scorer, for sure. But definitely their highest-paid player.”
Spokespeople for the NBA and the NBPA all did not immediately respond to a request to comment. Reilly did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ringer founder Bill Simmons joked about it on his own podcast. “I couldn’t be more delighted that the Ringer is involved,” Simmons said. “If it’s caused trauma for Lakers fans and disarray behind the scenes, I can’t say that was the intention, but it’s a pure delight to me as a Celtic fan to just watch this happen.”
It’s not the first time Paul has publicly played GM. In December, as speculation ran rampant over Giannis Antetokounmpo possibly asking out of Milwaukee, Paul said the Bucks should demand rising Hawks star Jalen Johnson in return. Johnson is a client of Paul’s, and the agent admitted Johnson wouldn’t want to play in his hometown of Milwaukee.
NBA agents tend to operate in the shadows and only see their names crop up publicly when a league insider is tweeting about the latest contract they earned for their client.
The NBPA has guidelines for registered agents, though it’s not clear if any of them apply to Paul’s comments. In the NBPA’s guideline book, Regulation 8 states an agent could be disciplined for “Engaging in any other activity which creates an actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest with the effective representation of Players; provided, however, that this provision does not prohibit an Agent from representing two or more Players on any one Team.”
One team executive told Front Office Sports that he found Paul’s comments “insane and fucked up.”
But the executive added there isn’t much a team can do about it aside from asking Paul to not include them in his hypothetical trades.
James quickly distanced himself from Paul’s comments after the Lakers’ 141–116 win over the Hawks on Tuesday. During the game, Reaves’s agent Berry approached Paul and talked to him about his comments, according to ESPN.
“I think you all know by now, Rich is his own man and what Rich says is not a direct reflection of me and how I feel,” James told ESPN after the game. “I hope people know that and if they’re not sensible to know that, then I don’t know what to tell them.”
“AR knows how I feel about him,” James added. “All you got to do is look at us on the bench. Me and AR talk every single day. So, AR knows how I feel about him and I hope AR—or his camp—don’t look at me and think this is words from me are coming through Rich.”
