Will LeBron James *REALLY* join the Dallas Mavericks?
Kyrie Irving has reached out to Lakers star LeBron James in attempts to see if James would come to Dallas.
Earlier today news broke that Kyrie Irving wants the Dallas Mavericks to explore trading for LeBron James this offseason to create a Big 3 alongside himself and Luka Doncic. This was followed by reports that the Mavericks were preparing to make an offer for James last season when the Lakers were out of the playoff picture.
So will we see a James x Irving x Doncic trio on the court for the Mavericks?
The short answer is no. Why?
Well, firstly, the Mavs don’t have anything that the Lakers would trade LeBron for - aside from Luka Doncic himself. A package of Davis Bertans, Tim Hardaway Jr, Maxi Kleber and some draft picks isn’t going to get you one of the best players in the league. Not to mention, trading for LeBron would absolutely ruin what is already a very shallow team in terms of depth.
Luka Doncic signed a 5 year / $215,159,700 contract extension meaning he will make $40M next season. The only feasible way this would make sense is if Kyrie Irving signs in Dallas at a *heavily* reduced price, and LeBron finds a way to buy himself out of his contract with the Lakers and also sign at a near minimum contract. Other than that, I can’t see a way this is financially viable.
The news leaking today happened for one of 3 reasons.
LeBron James is trying to put more pressure on the Lakers to improve their roster this off-season. He already hinted at retirement after being swept by the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, and some speculate that the option of LeBron buying-out his contract is more than just a rumour. As unlikely as it is, never say never.
Kyrie Irving is negotiating a new contract with various teams and wants to show he can attract star talent to play alongside him Dallas, to give him more leverage in the negotiation as he’s currently an unrestricted free agent.
The mainstream NBA media are incapable of actually analysing the currently on-going NBA Finals, as they didn’t watch Denver or Miami play all season long. They don’t have any idea how to explain how the Heat won Game 2, or what the Nuggets will do in Game 3, so they had to find something else to talk about.
If you are looking for great NBA coverage about the Finals, and stuff that isn’t just gossip and rumours, make sure you’re locked in-to the HOOP GENIUS PODCAST for deep dives with myself and 3x NBA champion BJ Armstrong. If you’d like to know how the Heat beat the Nuggets in Game 2, check out my YouTube channel as I just dropped another breakdown.
As always, I’m extremely grateful to those of you who are subscribed to this newsletter. It’s completely free, but if you want to support an independent creator, you can do for just £1 per month by using this offer that’s on during the NBA Finals. Bless up.
Trevor Lane pretty much said the same thing in laker nation, it will never happen because Dallas can’t offer anything the Lakers want. So the question is “who does this story benefit” and the answer is only Kyrie. The only way they team up is if the lakers do a sign and trade for Kyrie involving multiple talents going the other way… and I just don’t see Dallas going for it either.. 🤷♂️ they don’t want or need Dlo and I’d rather keep everyone else. Strange one… I think your 3rd reason is probably spot on! 😂👍