The Los Angeles Lakers perhaps have a considerably better chance and superior options for which to deal superstar LeBron James than top NBA analysts thought when free agency began two weeks ago.
Bobby Marks of ESPN declared essentially a non-existent trade market for the four-time MVP and four-time champion after James exercised his $52.6 million player option. His choice to do so rendered James, who will turn 41 years old in December, extraordinarily expensive and complicated the financial aspect of any potential deal.
However, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin recently reported that four franchises are interested in trading for James.
“Rich Paul told me that they never asked for [an extension]. Paul also made it clear to me that LeBron has not asked for a trade,” McMenamin reported from summer league in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 12. “And Paul hasn’t even discussed the possibility of wanting a trade in the future with the Lakers. Paul did tell me that four teams contacted him with interest in trading for LeBron. So now we wait.”
Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson took to X later on Saturday night with a report that included the names of those four franchises, including one of James’ former teams.
Robinson named the Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers as the interested parties.
Lebron James Trade Can Solve Multiple Problems for Cavaliers, Net Lakers at Least 1 Recent All-Star
GettyLos Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James.
Cavaliers fans and detractors of James, particularly of his age and career longevity heading into his 23rd season, have argued frequently over the past two weeks that Cleveland would never make a costly deal for a player of James’ age.
That isn’t an unreasonable position, except that the Cavs have overextended financially already and find themselves in the second apron for a roster that has lost in five games in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs in each of the previous two seasons.
It is possible that the foursome of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland (all three of whom were All-Stars in 2024-25) and Jarrett Allen (most recently an All-Star in 2021-22) simply isn’t a collection of talent that meshes well enough for Cleveland to play its way out of the East. However, the franchise has a better chance next season with major injuries likely to remove both the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers from true title contention.
Still, James was a second-team All-NBA player last year. Only Mitchell, who earned first-team All-NBA honors in 2024-25, had a more successful season. Mobley, like James, was also a second-team selection.
If the idea in Cleveland is to try to get over the championship hump in the short-term and also get off money to both bring the team below the second apron in 2025-26 and create flexibility for the following season and beyond, then a deal for James might be exactly the right play.
The Lakers could end up major beneficiaries of such a strategy, as they could potentially land one, if not two, of the Cavaliers’ recent All-Stars in a deal flipping James — with Garland and Allen the most likely candidates.
Cavaliers Face Serious Complications in any Trade for LeBron James
GettyDarius Garland of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The problem for Cleveland is that to make any trade for James at all, based on current salary cap regulations, the team must get under the second apron. Doing so will be both complicated and costly from a personnel standpoint.
NBA insider Kevin O’Connor explained the details in an X post on June 29.
LeBron James to the Cavaliers would require getting under the second apron, which would mean losing Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland and a third guy: probably Max Strus.
It’s a lot to give up for a player who may not put you over the top and may have only one year left. Then again, Allen has folded in the playoffs and Garland is a tiny guard. Could trading them be a low key salary dump for Cleveland? Then whenever LeBron retires, the front office would have cap flexibility to build next to [Mitchell] and [Mobley] with better-fitting players than Allen and Garland. So in a strange way, adding [James] could help optimize their short-term title odds while also helping in the longer term.
It’d be a complicated trade. A third team at least would have to be involved. A lot would have to go out. But if the chance is there, the Cavs should [go] all-in on [James].
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