LeBron James' agent suggests Lakers trade Austin Reaves

Over the past month, superagent Rich Paul has made several eyebrow-raising comments about the Los Angeles Lakers.

Paul started a podcast with former ESPN personality Max Kellerman, and he didn't need more than one episode to claim that the Lakers weren't championship contenders.

Now, a couple of episodes later, he's making a public push for them to get rid of Austin Reaves.

Rich Paul wants the Lakers to go after Jaren Jackson Jr.

Talking to Kellerman, Paul suggested that the Lakers should pursue Jaren Jackson Jr. to be their defensive anchor.

“If I was the Lakers I would be targeting the Memphis Grizzlies as a trade partner for Jaren Jackson,” Paul said.“ If you’re building around Luka, you need that anchor.”

Paul admitted that moving on from a fan favorite like Austin Reaves might be the only way to get a deal done.

“Jaren doesn’t want to be a part of a rebuild,” Paul continued. “If you’re able to trade out expirings and trade the last first (round pick) you got, or you can withhold and give up less, but this comes with a more unemotional attachment because Austin is beloved.”

The renowned agent then said that Reaves would probably get the type of contract he's looking for in Memphis, all while the Lakers finally get a defensive specialist.

“There’s a world where you can do what’s best for your team, and what’s best for Austin. Austin deserves to get paid,“ Paul said. “Memphis would definitely pay Austin. He would become their leading scorer and PG.”

That makes sense to a degree, but most reports state that the Lakers are willing to keep Austin Reaves in town, regardless of the asking price.

Even if that weren't the case, having the agent of one of their players make these comments in public seems like a conflict of interest, at the very least. 

Who are these comments and ideas coming from?