Isaiah Thomas calls out Rich Paul for the Austin Reeves trade fiasco
The The Los Angeles Lakers were up and down in recent weeks, currently 10 games over .500 about halfway through the 2025-26 NBA season. Most recently, agent Klutch Sports Rich Paul made headlines by publicly proposing a Lakers trade Austin Reaves for Memphis Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr., which was not well received by some in the Los Angeles organization.
Now, the former Lakers point guard Isaiah Thomas is joining chorus of reactions addressed to Paul after the suggestion.
“I mean, first of all, come on, Rich Paul. We can’t do that. It’s crazy, because it also looks like a real trade.” “Like, like, and then just knowing who he is and what he’s like for LeBron, it’s like — was that a conversation between you guys? You just never know. But I mean, I don’t think it should be on any podcast that talks about trades,” Thomas said on the Point Game Podcast with Isaiah Thomas on YouTube.
Paul wasn’t the first person to suggest that trading Reaves for a player with skills more in line with what the Lakers need might be a good idea. Reaves was enjoying a career year before suffering an injury a few weeks ago, but there were concerns that his offensive skill set might be a bit redundant alongside LeBron James and Luka Doncic, especially considering he doesn’t do much to solve Los Angeles’ problems on the defensive end of the floor.
However, for Paul, who clearly has influence in the Lakers organization thanks to his relationship with James, suggesting such a trade on a public platform almost inevitably met with backlash, and may have ultimately made it less likely that the Lakers would eventually pursue a trade for Reaves.
Los Angeles next plays on the court Thursday night against the Los Angeles Clippers.
2026-01-22 17:53:00
