Could the Dallas Mavericks really retain former Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving and land LeBron James?
By Chad Porto
Two former Cleveland Cavaliers in Kyrie Irving and LeBron James are trying to reunite.
The rumor mills for the NBA are swirling as we head into the offseason. Unfortunately for us Cleveland Cavaliers fans, those rumors don’t pertain to us. Whether it’s LeBron James’ pending retirement, James Harden trying to go back to Houston, Jaylen Brown’s future in Boston, Damian Lillard’s future in Portland and so many other storylines, it’s going to be a madhouse this offseason.
And wouldn’t you know it, perpetual fire starter, Kyrie Irving, has started another blazing inferno for people to deal with. Irving kicked off a firestorm on social media a few days ago when the word got out that he was trying to recruit James to the Dallas Mavericks to team up with himself and one of the five best players in the league; Luka Doncic.
There are just two small, inconsequential problems, there’s no way that Dallas could afford to sign James in free agency, and oh yeah, James isn’t even a free agent this year. The only way James could go to Dallas this season is through (the very unlikely) buyout option, or if he’s traded.
Assuming Dallas can make it happen, do the Mavericks even have the contracts needed to make the deal happen? And if they did, would it really even matter? The Mavericks’ biggest issue in the 2022-2023 NBA season was defense. Something the Cavs don’t have an issue with.
In fact, of all the teams that it would make sense for James to head to be it this year or next, it would be Cleveland. They wouldn’t have to give up nearly as much in a trade, or they could sign him cheap. Why would he sign cheap? Unlike Dallas and the Lakers, Cleveland has a first-round pick in 2024, which would allow them to land Bronny James, James’ son who has NBA potential.
And the player James’ has spoken about playing alongside the most over the last decade.
So it’s unlikely that Dallas lands James, but because this is involving two of the biggest names that the Cavaliers have ever had, potentially reuniting outside of Cleveland, I thought it’d be neat to look at how it could happen.