An NBA insider claims that LeBron James, the league’s top scorer, was courted by the Dallas Mavericks, where he might reunite with Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis, two of his former colleagues.
James entered the NBA summer opting into the final year of his deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, but a statement from his agent, Rich Paul, cast doubt on his continued involvement with the club.
Paul made it clear that James wants to win a title before he retires and acknowledged that Los Angeles is building around Luka Doncic.
Since the team is on a different timeline than James, Paul said that the 40-year-old star is considering his options.
The NBA rumor mill went to work after the statement came out. James was linked to all of the contending playoff teams in the league, though one of the names persisted throughout the wave of rumors.
The Dallas Mavericks became an obvious connection since his former teammates Irving and Davis are on the roster, and once Irving gets healthy, they should be contenders.
The Athletic’s John Hollinger stated that while attending the Las Vegas Summer League, NBA players and coaches often brought up the possibility of playing for the Dallas Mavericks. “In particular, the whispers about him having eyes for Dallas — a place where he could have teamed up with former teammates Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving and young phenom Cooper Flagg — before opting into his deal were hard to ignore,” said Hollinger. “James obviously wasn’t ready to risk $52 million to accept a nontaxpayer MLE or a comparable offer from the Mavericks or any other club. Similarly implausible is a buyout.
Further complicating any in-season deal with a contender-class club are the tax aprons on both sides.
“The Lakers set themselves up to have max cap room next summer once James’ salary comes off their books, taking advantage of an artificially low cap hold for Austin Reaves.” It would be prudent for them to sell their James shares if they aren’t going to challenge for the top spot in the West if that is their strategy.
At the same time, a no-trade clause gives James some say over where he plays next, although free agency isn’t what it once was.
His high salary makes it difficult for another contending team to pull off a trade.
The modern Collective Bargaining Agreement limits a team’s ability to get a transaction done if they have a salary sheet that is too high.
The Mavs face those restrictions which make salary matching in a trade difficult.
In all likelihood, James is staying in Los Angeles for at least the beginning of the season, but the NBA trade deadline might present another opportunity for him to get out of the city.
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