Jaren Jackson Jr. wondered if Rich Paul’s trade proposal for Austin Reaves was artificial intelligence
The The Memphis Grizzlies were shrouded in trade rumors over the past few weeks, culminating in a report from ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania that the team is open to exploring a new home for Ja Morant. If it goes through, some reports suggest the Grizzlies would be looking at the big man Jaren Jackson Jr. as their new building block moving forward, which drew mixed reactions from fans.
Meanwhile, Klutch Sports agent Rich Paul recently went on the Game Over podcast with Max Kellerman to publicly float the idea of a Los Angeles Lakers trade Austin Reaves To the Grizzlies in exchange for Jackson, and now it’s Jackson himself sharing his reaction to those comments.
“There’s just a lot of podcasts,” Jackson said, per The Athletic’s Joe Vardon . “I didn’t think it was real at first. You have to figure out if it’s real, usually now, and I’m not as tech-savvy as these younger people than me. I figured if it was AI, deepfake, all that stuff. That’s all I had, I didn’t really have a reaction.”
Paul has never been shy about publicly yearning to get his clients where he wants them to go, and many eyebrows were raised when he floated the idea of trading Reeves for Jackson Jr.
It remains to be seen how the Grizzlies themselves would react to such an idea. Jackson Jr. would certainly help the Lakers on the defensive side of the ball, where they’ve struggled mightily this year, but the Grizzlies would be aging with this trade, and it’s unclear if Reaves would be viewed as a potential piece at 27.
Either way, the Grizzlies will take the floor next on Thursday for a game against the Orlando Magic.
2026-01-14 16:20:00
