Could the Dallas Mavericks really retain former Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving and land LeBron James?

What would it take for the Dallas Mavericks to land the former Cleveland Cavaliers standout LeBron James?

So, the only way this trade works out for anyone, is if the Los Angeles Lakers are done trying to compete with this core and have decided to blow it up. Anthony Davis isn’t a Top 10 player, and if we’re being honest, isn’t really a Top 25 player. At least not anymore. He’s not the kind of guy who can carry a team on his own to the playoffs. He never really was, despite the NBA media hyping him up for over a decade.

So if the Lakers are looking to ship off James and Davis, they could really restart and rebuild with a few good draft picks and trades. While James’ name would arguably be the biggest to ever be traded for, his production and age would ensure his trade package isn’t as robust as we’ve seen in years past.

The Mavericks don’t have a lot to offer for James, but they have enough if the Lakers are motivated, and James wants to be in Dallas. And that’s key, if James wants to go, after all, he’s done for the Lakers over the last four seasons, you’d think they’d do right by him and trade him there.

If they did, here’s what the trade would probably look like;

The Mavericks are giving up three key players in this trade, sending off Tim Hardaway Jr., Josh Green, and Jalen Hardy for value, and Davis Bertans as the money. Then you have two draft picks as well, with the 2023 first-round pick, which is the 10th pick in July’s draft, and then the 2025 second-round pick.

With the idea that the Mavericks will be competing regularly for titles, even without James and Irving in the equation, it makes sense that you’d offer up two very good young players in Hardy and Green over more first-round picks in 2026 or 2027. Those draft picks will be very late in the first round, and you’re likely to get very similar, if not markedly worse types of players with Dallas’ picks.

You’d also turn around and trade Anthony Davis away as well, and if you can ship him to Portland for the third pick in this year’s draft, then you can really get jump-started on rebuilding your team. What happens to Austin Reeves is anyone’s guess, but I’d love to see him traded to Dallas.

After all, James is going to be a decent bucket-getter off the bat, and I threw in Jarred Vanderbilt for defense, but if the Mavericks can also land Reeves, who is 25, and already very ahead of the rebuild timeline for the Lakers, then the Mavericks will be poised to do some real work in 2023-2024.