In discussing the Lakers, Paul suggested that they should consider making Reaves the centerpiece of a trade package to the Grizzlies for Jackson. Paul feels Jackson would be a more ideal fit for the Lakers to build around Luka Doncic, while Reaves will still get his well-deserved payday that is coming up this summer when he hits free agency.

In the aftermath, many wondered whether Paul had some sort of inside information due to how close he works with the Lakers, while also questioning if these ideas were shared by James. But as for Jackson, the Grizzlies center didn’t even believe the comments we’re real when he saw them, via Joe Vardon of The Athletic:

“There’s just a lot of podcasts,” Jackson said. “At first, I didn’t think it was real. You have to figure out if it’s real, usually now, and I’m not as versed technology-wise as these people younger than me. I was figuring out if it’s AI, deepfake, all that stuff. That’s all I had, I didn’t really have much of a reaction.”

That thought process is a fair one as fake AI videos are everywhere online these days and it is becoming more and more difficult to figure out what is real and what isn’t. The idea of an active agent making public trade suggestions involving the teammates of his biggest client is something that most wouldn’t expect to see, Jackson included.

The rumors themselves didn’t seem to bother Jackson and, now in his eighth NBA season, he has likely gotten used to hearing his name being thrown out from time to time. But the circumstances surrounding this one was a bit different, though it looks like everyone can turn the page on any potential Lakers-Grizzlies trade.

Austin Reaves’ agent spoke with Rich Paul at halftime of Lakers game

Comments coming from the agent of a superstar player suggesting a trade of one of his teammates is pretty much guaranteed to stir up some potential drama. While all seems well within the Lakers and between Reaves and James, Reaves’ agent was seen having a conversation with Paul about his comments during the Lakers’ game against the Atlanta Hawks.

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The Lakers took care of business in the first meeting and were looking to do so again, especially with the Grizzlies extremely shorthanded without Ja Morant and others. L.A. was missing some key pieces too, of course, but that didn’t matter as they overcome a 16-point deficit to earn a 120-114 victory and improve to 22-11 on the season.

JJ Redick’s team has been impeccable in clutch time games this season and that continued here as the Lakers pulled away in the final minutes for the win. They are now 12-0 in games that have had clutch time, which as defined as five points or closer in the final five minutes.

As usual, it was Luka Doncic and LeBron James that led the way for L.A. Doncic got out to a hot start offensively and overcame some early turnovers for another strong performance.

The Slovenian star led all scorers with 36 points on 10-of-20 shooting to go with nine rebounds, eight assists and one block. When the Lakers needed some buckets late, Doncic buried back-to-back triples to close it out.

James was steady for his team all night with some impressive two-way play. He seems to be rounding into form in his 23rd season, finishing with 26 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists and one steal.

LeBron was out of rhythm when he first returning from injury, leading many to believe he is finally declining as a player at age 41. That isn’t the case just yet, however, as he is now averaging 25.2 points in his last 11 games since his double-digit scoring streak came to an end.

It wasn’t just Doncic and James that led the way though as Jake LaRavia had his second straight strong performance against his former team. He had 26 points of his own to go along with five rebounds, four assists and a steal in 34 minutes as he continues to get more and more comfortable in the starting lineup.

And finally, Deandre Ayton had an exceptional two-way game with 15 points, eight rebounds, one assist and three blocks in the victory. The Lakers made it a point to get him early touches and he responded with his best game in a while.

What’s next for the Lakers…

The Lakers will now head out on the road for a back-to-back against the New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, before returning home on Friday.

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Both teams continued to be severely shorthanded, but ultimately the Lakers picked up another win, coming back to earn a 120-114 victory.

Deandre Ayton has been frustrated with his recently lack of touches, so the Lakers made it a point to get him the ball on the first possession and he scored. Luka Doncic then found Ayton for a dunk as L.A. was getting the big man involved early.

The Lakers were struggling defensively early though as the Grizzlies jumped out to a slim lead. Doncic started to get going from there though as he made four of his first five shots, including a triple.

Rebounding was a challenge for the Lakers as the Grizzlies had seven offensive rebounds in the first quarter a long and closed the frame strong to take a 34-26 lead.

L.A. was in an offensive drought to begin the second as Memphis quickly grew its lead to double digits. LeBron James ended the drought with a floater and then got to the free throw line, but the Grizzlies kept putting on the pressure and the Lakers needed a timeout trailing by 16.

The Lakers were ice cold from 3 but they started to lock in defensively to end the half, cutting their deficit to 65-54 heading into the locker room.

It was a nice start to the third quarter for the Lakers as Jake LaRavia had five straight points and then James cut it to five with a layup.

The Lakers’ inability to make open triples kept them from getting over the jump though as Memphis responded with a run to get the lead back to double digits.

With L.A. struggling offensively, they were living at the free throw line to chip away. Doncic and James both finally connected from deep and the Grizzlies’ lead was 87-83 going into the final quarter.

James began to take over to start the fourth with a three-point play and a triple. LaRavia then had back-to-back buckets to give his team its first lead since the opening minutes.

They began to take control from there as Ayton found James for a pair of buckets. Doncic then hit two deep 3s as the Lakers closed out another clutch time win.

What’s next for the Lakers…

The Lakers will now head out on the road for a back-to-back against the New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

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He finished with 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting to go along with nine rebounds and six assists. It was one of LeBron’s best games of the 2025-26 season thus far, and among the best showings of the James and Luka Doncic duo, as the Slovenian star dropped 34 points, six rebounds and eight assists in the winning effort.

The Lakers have needed LeBron to step up in the absence of Reaves, and Redick was ecstatic to see that type of performance from the now-41-year-old star.

“Yeah, he did; he was phenomenal,” Redick said. “There was just a few stretches there where they made runs and the response from him. It felt like nearly every time we needed a bucket, he just willed, whether it was driving the basketball, getting into the paint, getting to two feet and he just was phenomenal tonight.”

James spoke about his performance in the win, attributing some of it to having two full days off between L.A.’s last loss to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday and Friday night.

“I mean a couple days helped. We did come in the morning of the 31st, got some work in and then had the rest of that day off and then yesterday we had off. But [I] got a great workout in this morning. I felt pretty good about how I felt physically and mentally. So, [I] try to give what I got.”

At this stage, it has become increasingly unlikely that James is going to give these types of performances every single night. He picks and chooses his battles, and focuses more on being a distributor when the game script calls for it. But it’s important for the Lakers’ success that — when needed — he can still provide efficient scoring pop.

LeBron James gives advice to 18-year-old self after turning 41

James turned 41 years old on Dec. 30 — when the Lakers lost to the Pistons — and immediately became the first player in NBA history to score 30 points in a game after turning 41. He looked back on the last 23 years and gave some advice to his teenage self.

“It’s a lot of advice I would give him. I would just say keep the main thing the main thing,” James said on his 41st birthday. “Work hard. There’s no substitute for hard work. Hard work and dedication, if you want to be great, is going to pay off. Keep the blinders on. As much as they praise you, it’s even triple, quadruple of people trying to bring you down and want to tear you down every single day. Protect your family. Protect your mental space. That’s a lot more. Just go out and have fun. Enjoy the ride because you never know when it comes to an end. It goes fast.”

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It didn’t take long for head coach JJ Redick to trust LaRavia on both ends of the floor as he was often a staple of lineups alongside the stars and held up well guarding scoring wings. While LaRavia will never be a household name, he’s an ideal glue guy on a Los Angeles roster that needs people who can fill in multiple gaps.

LaRavia unfortunately fell into a slump shooting the basketball, which in turn coincided with the Lakers’ recent losing stretch. Going into Friday night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies, he was shooting just 30.9% from 3 this season and 22.6% in his last 10 games.

He finally broke out with a huge performance in the win against his former team, however. Following the 128-121 victory, LaRavia admitted it felt good to finally see his outside shots fall even though he has remained confident.

“To be honest, I feel like I go into every game with that mentality. Some games it happens, some games it doesn’t, it really just depends. Tonight, I got going pretty early and the ball was finding me, especially in that first half, and I was just able to get going and stay aggressive and finally knock down some shots,” LaRavia said.

“So, that felt good, and just got to continue to trust my shot and I tell all the guys just to continue to trust in me and my offensive game.”

In order to get back on track shooting it from deep, LaRavia credited his work with Lakers assistant coach Beau Levesque.

“The amount of work that I put in, I think I said this last time, I started working with Beau [Levesque], and he says control the input and the output’s going to show for itself. So that’s kind of what I’m doing right now. I’m just working on my shot, starting with the basics again, and just kind of going from there, and hopefully I can find my rhythm again, and tonight was just the start.”

Against the Grizzlies, LaRavia was a catalyst early as he worked the defensive end and glass to earn scoring opportunities. However, the most encouraging part of his performance was the 3-point shooting as he knocked down 3-of-6 of his attempts. Overall, LaRavia scored 21 points and they came within the flow of the offense, positive signs for him moving forward.

It’s hard to expect LaRavia to be this efficient scoring the basketball every night, but being able to drain open threes would go a long way in him earning an even bigger role. Luka Doncic and LeBron James demand a defense’s undivided attention, so having someone like LaRavia who can make them pay from distance is a massive plus for a Lakers offense that needs the role players to step up more.

Jake LaRavia pleased with Lakers’ response after being called out

LaRavia’s rough shooting stretch didn’t help the Lakers at the end of 2025 as they lost in embarrassing fashion to several teams. For example, Los Angeles were thrashed by the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day, prompting head coach JJ Redick to plan a more intense practice.

Redick made sure to point out mistakes in their film session and LaRavia ended up pleased with his and the team’s response as they bounced back with a win agains the Sacramento Kings.

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