Rich Paul and LeBron just gave Celtics fans new reason to laugh at the Lakers

It’s been a tough week over here in Celtic land. The Boston Celtics have now dropped three of their last five games, and look mortal again for the first time since November. Although considering the expectations surrounding the team heading into the season, this isn’t a bad place to be, now is it?

Third in the East. Fourth-best point differential in the entire league. Jayson Tatum is inching closer to a return by the day. Most importantly, no drama.

The same can’t be said for the rival Los Angeles Lakers. Their past few days have been full of nothing but drama. Unfortunately for them, it’s not the drama being filmed at the nearby movie studios.

Instead, they’re dealing with the tax that comes along with being a part of the LeBron James circus, and no, I’m not writing about the totally cool patch that “Topps” decided that he should wear on his uniform every night all of a sudden.

Celtics fans should be thankful that Rich Paul is nowhere near their team

James’ longtime agent, Rich Paul, recently went on his new podcast “Game Over with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul” to suggest that the Lakers should trade Austin Reaves for Memphis Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr.

"If you're building around Luka [Doncic] going forward, which they are, you need that anchor," Paul told Kellerman. "And Jaren doesn't want to be a part of a rebuild [in Memphis]."

He went on to pitch that LA trades Reaves, one of their draft picks in 2031 or 32, and then expiring contracts to Memphis for the former Defensive Player of the Year.

"This comes with a very unemotional attachment because Austin is beloved, which he should be, he's an underdog," Paul continued. "There's a world where you can do what's best for your team, and do what's best for Austin. Because Austin deserves to get paid. Now, I love him as a Laker, but if that was a situation where we're getting balance -- because 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, then [building a full roster is challenging]."

Now, why would Rich Paul want the Lakers to move Reaves???

The interesting piece of this is that Reaves, who is not represented by Paul, as you’d imagine, will likely opt out of his $14 million player option for next season and become a free agent this summer. In that scenario, the Lakers would likely have to choose between securing the 27-year-old on a new, more lucrative deal, or giving James another max contract.

Hmmm.

Of course, James refuted any connection to Paul’s comments at the first opportunity.

"AR knows how I feel about him,” he told reporters Tuesday. “All you got to do is look at us on the bench. Me and AR talk every single day. So, AR knows how I feel about him and I hope AR -- or his camp -- don't look at me and think this is words from me are coming through Rich."

It’s hard not to just sit back and laugh at all of the theatrics going on with the Lakers. James has been known to get involved with front office decisions in the past, notably pushing Los Angeles to trade for Russell Westbrook over Buddy Hield in 2021.

Though he denies any involvement in what his agent said publicly about wanting to trade one of his teammates, the shoe kind of fits, you know?

Plus, ESPN's Dave McMenamin shared a glorious tidbit about Reaves' agent, Reggie Berry, publicly confronting Paul during Tuesday's game against the Atlanta Hawks.

What does this mean for Bill Simmons' legacy as a Celtics fan?

Lifelong Celtics fan and founder of The Ringer, Bill Simmons, deserves some credit here, too. Simmons is the one who gave Paul this platform in the first place. He invited him to start a podcast on his network, and he is surely enjoying watching Paul, James, and the Lakers having to try to do this awkward dance.

I mean, do we really think anyone was thinking to themselves, “Man, I’d really love to hear what Rich Paul thinks of this,” before Simmons put a microphone in front of him?

He just found another way to make things more difficult for Boston’s biggest rival.

It’s not like things have been going great out in LA, despite their 24-14 record. Head Coach JJ Reddick seemingly tells the media how much he hates his team every other week, James gave center DeAndre Ayton the famous “I’m going to trade you” look a few games ago, and despite being 10 games over .500, the Lakers only have a point differential of +0.1.

Is that good? Are we supposed to be moved?

So, as annoying as it is to see the Celtics turn some wins into losses, just remember, it could always be worse.