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On Monday, Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report revealed that Kyrie Irving, the star point guard of the Dallas Mavericks, has been actively recruiting LeBron James, the LA Lakers' forward. The idea behind this recruitment effort is for Dallas to trade for James and create a formidable trio with Irving and superstar guard Luka Doncic. Haynes reported that James has expressed his desire to play alongside Irving once again, referring to their successful stint together in Cleveland:
“LeBron has made it clear as recently as February's trade deadline that he'd be open to playing alongside his former teammate,” Haynes reported.
Haynes also said that James could negotiate a buyout with the Lakers if he wanted to join Dallas:
“The easiest — and unlikeliest — path to adding James this offseason would be for him to orchestrate a buyout,” Haynes reported.
“James, 38, has one year of $46.9 million remaining on his contract and also holds a $50.6 million player option for the 2024-25 season. The four-time MVP is expected to return for his 21st season.”
However, many have pointed out that it is highly unlikely for LeBron James to accept a buyout from the Lakers. Doing so would require him to take a substantial pay cut to join the Mavericks. As a result, a trade appears to be the more plausible scenario for his potential move to Dallas. Nonetheless, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, a trade involving James between the Mavericks and Lakers is highly improbable. This is primarily due to Dallas lacking the necessary trade assets to make a deal happen:
“If James were to demand a trade, and the Lakers were to entertain offers, it would take more than a package of, say, Tim Hardaway Jr., Dāvis Bertāns, Josh Green, Jaden Hardy, the No. 10 pick in the 2023 draft and another future first to get a deal done,” Buha reported.
“The Lakers simply aren't interested in what Dallas could offer in a trade, according to multiple team sources.”
Considering all these factors, it appears that the chances of LeBron James joining the Dallas Mavericks are slim, at least in the near future.
Mavericks plan to re-sign Kyrie Irving, build trade packages around No. 10 pick
Trading for LeBron James may not be a realistic offseason plan for the Dallas Mavericks. However, there are still other moves that Dallas can make to improve its roster. According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the Mavs plan to re-sign Kyrie Irving in free agency. The team will also attempt to make a win-now trade involving their No. 10 pick in this year’s draft:
“Sources say that Dallas has not wavered from its hope and intent to re-sign Irving in free agency and pursue further potential win-now roster upgrades via trade packages built around the 10th overall pick in the June 22 draft,” Stein reported.
It remains to be seen who Dallas could target in a trade. However, most would agree that the Mavs could sorely use some frontcourt depth to bolster their lackluster defense.
