Rich Paul’s ongoing vendetta against Austin Reaves took yet another recent turn. In the latest episode of the “Game Over” podcast, the Klutch Sports CEO suggested that the Lakers should be open to trading Reaves for Memphis Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr.
“Austin deserves to get paid right now,” Paul said. “I love him as a Laker, but that is a situation where we’re getting balance. If you put all the money into just the backcourt, and then your flexibility is restricted going forward to fill out the rest of the team, that’s kinda like when you have the training wheels on your bike, but one training wheel is off and it kinda leans, it’s kinda like that.”
Confusing metaphor aside, Paul does raise a fair point. Luka Dončić is set to begin a three-year extension next year, starting at 30 percent of the salary cap. Reaves figures to get a max or near-max deal in free agency this offseason, too. If the Lakers are devoting roughly 60 percent of their entire salary cap to their starting backcourt, it could make it challenging for them to fill out the rest of their roster.
The Lakers could have a brief window this offseason to take advantage of Reaves’ below-market cap hold and add another high-cost player before re-signing Reaves. Granted, the 2026 free-agent class is looking increasingly barren, particularly after Jackson renegotiated and extended his contract this past summer. Even if they were able to land another star, the second-apron era has made it prohibitively difficult to build around three players on max or near-max contracts.
So, should the Lakers consider flipping Reaves for Jackson or another frontcourt player ahead of the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline? That’s where Paul may be jumping the gun.
Paul’s idea might make sense… next year
As part of Jackson’s renegotiation-and-extension this past offseason, he bumped his 2025-26 salary up from $23.4 million to $35 million flat. The Lakers are $1.1 million under the first apron, so they are allowed to take back slightly more salary than they send out in a trade, but they can’t cross the $195.9 million first apron at any point between now and June 30 after hard-capping themselves by signing Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia with the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. That means they’d need to send out at least $33.9 million in a trade for Jackson this season.
Reaves is earning only $13.9 million, so the Lakers would have to include at least $20 million in additional salary for Jackson. However, the Grizzlies already have 15 players under standard contract, so they’d either have to send multiple players back in a JJJ deal or loop in a third team to take on the unwanted players.
The Lakers could get there by including Rui Hachimura ($18.3 million) and anyone else on their roster other than Adou Thiero ($1.3 million). They could also include two of Jarred Vanderbilt ($11.6 million), Gabe Vincent ($11.5 million) and Maxi Kleber ($11.0 million) instead. The Grizzlies couldn’t ask for much more than Reaves from a value perspective, so a deal built around Reaves, Vincent and Kleber could make sense. However, the Lakers would have to fill in depth after their departure and wouldn’t have much flexibility under the second apron to do so.
But what if the Lakers waited until next season to revisit those trade talks? At that point, Reaves would be on his new max or near-max contract, so they won’t run into as many salary-matching issues once he becomes trade-eligible (likely on Jan. 15).
These types of star-for-star swaps might become more common, particularly as in-season deals, thanks to the restrictions placed on teams in the second-apron era. The Lakers already swung one such blockbuster last year when they flipped Anthony Davis and filler for Dončić. It’s far easier to fill in minor salary-matching pieces when both stars involved in the trade are in the same salary range.
When there’s a huge gap in compensation — as there is this year between Reaves and Jackson — the additional depth the Lakers would need to include could complicate those negotiations.
As long as the Grizzlies don’t trade Jackson at this year’s trade deadline or during the offseason, the Lakers might be able to revisit the idea of flipping Reaves for him next January. It would potentially make far more sense for them to do so then than it does right now since they shouldn’t have to take nearly the same type of hit to their depth.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.
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