Rich Paul Accused of Creating Fake ‘PR Smoke’ for LeBron James in Lakers’ Klay Thompson Pursuit: “Poor Sacrificing Superstar”

A partnership between Klay Thompson and LeBron James seemed possible. Rumors about the same surfaced after Rich Paul reported that his player would be willing to take a major cut on his next contract for his franchise to acquire a top-quality player. Just as that raised excitement amongst fans, Klay Thompson has inked a deal with the Dallas Mavericks instead. A longtime critic of LeBron James has now taken a shot at his agent for using the Splash Brother’s name for their own benefit.

A few hours ago, Undisputed’s host Skip Bayless took to X and shared his belief with his 3.2 million followers. He refused to accept that LeBron James would take less than the 3-year, $160 million contract extension that awaits him with the Lakers.

And because of that, the franchise wouldn’t have been able to match the recent 3-year, $50 million offer that the Dallas Mavericks made to Klay Thompson without going over the luxury tax limit. “Rich Paul was just blowing PR smoke setting up LBJ as the poor sacrificing superstar who has no help,” wrote Bayless.

After serving 13 years with the Warriors, Klay Thompson will now join Luka Doncic and Co. under a sign-and-trade agreement. He rejected a 3-year, $48 million offer made to him back in April, and the Warriors refused to make a better offer than that. According to reports, while his initial ask was for a 4-year deal, he compromised on a 3-year deal with the Mavericks in the end.

Klay Thompson’s exit from the Warriors had given the Lakers and JJ Redick a unique opportunity to add a star veteran to their roster. The odds started looking a bit more in their favor after reports that not only would LeBron James choose to accept an extension with the Lakers, but also take a reported cut of $33 million. This way, the franchise would be able to take Thompson in under the ‘Non-Tax Payer MLE’.

While Rich Paul did not explicitly name Thompson, he did put out a statement claiming that LeBron is “prioritizing a roster improvement” and that “he’s been adamant about exuding all efforts to improve the roster.” By signing a contract below the 3-year, $162 million threshold, a full $129 million mid-level exception would have been open to acquire, as the agent stated, an “impact player.” Unfortunately, a possible LeBron James-Klay Thompson partnership ended up being too good to be true.

LeBron James and Co. may now pivot to a 6x NBA All-Star after Klay Thompson’s rejection

Everyone has a backup plan for certain situations in case things don’t go their way. The same may be said about the Lakers as well. With Klay Thompson having now preferred the Mavs, LeBron James and Co. can focus on another viable candidate: Chicago Bulls shooting guard DeMar DeRozan. According to Chris Haynes on NBA TV, “I know there have been communication between the Lakers and DeMar’s agent Aaron Goodwin”.

“Someone who is a star caliber player that LeBron James is seeking for this team for the upcoming season? DeMar DeRozan is the biggest free agent left out there on the board. It will either take a sign-and-trade or it will take the Lakers getting creative, removing some players, clearing the books to be able to get DeMar over there,” Haynes concluded.

DeMar DeRozan has entered free agency after his 3-year $81.9 million contract with the Bulls ended. Along with possessing more experience than Klay Thompson, DeRozan also vastly outperformed the now-Mavs player by averaging 24 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists. This certainly puts him under the ‘impact player’ category for whom LeBron James would be willing to take a pay cut.

“I think there’s more than three,” Brain Windhorst confirmed when discussing whether LeBron would take a pay cut for someone other than Klay Thompson and James Harden. “I think DeMar DeRozan is on that list as well. And there may be another one or so.”

A DeRozan acquisition would allow the Lakers to possess a strong shooting guard and the player will get a genuine shot at winning his first Championship. While the odds of it happening stand at a 50-50 level, only time will tell what steps will the Lakers take next.

Before leaving, be sure to check out some insights that Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, shared about the Lakers legend’s infamous feud with the late Kobe Bryant.