The trade rumors surrounding LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have begun to quiet, but it’s still possible a deal could materialize. At this stage in the offseason, it’ll be difficult for a team to free up the $52 million in salary cap space it would take to add James.
It could take a big and complicated deal to make a trade happen. Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report pitched a trade idea that involves the Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and Brooklyn Nets that would see 13 players trade teams.
The Mavericks would get LeBron James (from Lakers), Bronny James (from Lakers), Drew Timme (from Nets), Tyrese Martin (from Nets), $1.8 million trade exception (Dwight Powell) and a $1.1 million trade exception (Olivier-Maxence Prosper).
The Lakers would get Daniel Gafford (from Mavericks), PJ Washington (from Mavericks), Naji Marshall (from Mavericks), Caleb Martin (from Mavericks), Jaden Hardy (from Mavericks), 2030 Lakers second-rounder (from Nets), 2031 Lakers second-rounder (from Nets) and a $24.1 million trade exception (LeBron James).
The Nets would get Dalton Knecht (from Lakers), Maxi Kleber (from Lakers), Olivier-Maxence, Prosper (from Mavericks) and Dwight Powell (from Mavericks).
This is an incredibly complex trade and would be one of the biggest transactions in the history of the NBA.
Would This Be a Good Deal for Lakers to Make?
The only problem the Lakers could have with this deal is that they don’t get a player as good as James in return. That said, the team would get some good depth players and a couple of draft picks.
That’s not a bad haul for a 40-year-old. Pincus explained why it would be a good deal for the Lakers to make.
“L.A. lucked into veterans Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart on the buyout market, but depth remains precarious. Sending off James for five viable rotation players completely shifts the team’s identity,” Pincus wrote. “Dončić has proven chemistry with Gafford (who would presumably back up Ayton) and Washington (who might step into the starting lineup). Wings Marshall and Martin would give Dončić wing support. Hardy can provide a scoring punch at guard.
“In the deal, Los Angeles gets under the luxury tax, takes a step to reset the putative repeater clock, while getting back a pair of seconds previously sent to the Nets (primarily the return for offloading Knecht).”
James May Have Had Interest in Mavericks
From James’ perspective, this may be an ideal situation. According to The Athletic’s John Hollinger, the future Hall of Famer was considering the Mavericks as an option before he opted into his contract.
“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,” Hollinger wrote.
The Mavericks with James could feasibly compete for a championship, but the Davis-James pairing couldn’t get over the hump in Los Angeles outside of one season. With Kyrie Irving hurt, it’s hard to imagine they’d be much better than the Lakers were last season unless rookie Cooper Flagg is ready to make a big impact in Year 1.
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