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

Would a reunion between LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, regardless of where really work?

If the Dallas Mavericks did land former Cleveland Cavaliers stars Kyrie Irving and LeBron James (Irving is a free agent this offseason), while also landing Jarred Vanderbilt and Austin Reeves in the same trade, then yes. I think you’d have yourself a unit that could at least contend for the Western Conference Finals, if not the NBA Finals.

You would need to be creative with who else you bring in, as you wouldn’t have the cap space to do anything significant. Maybe you could bring in someone like Dwight Howard or Miles Plumlee to start at center, and run a lineup of Luka Doncic at the point, Irving at shooting guard, Reeves at small forward, James at power forward, and then Howard/Plumlee at center.

Then you could have Reggie Bullock, Max Kleber, Vanderbilt, and another low-cost free agent off the bench. Preferably someone who can score and play defense. Maybe get bold and just go get someone like Mac McClung.

While Irving isn’t a great option, Doncic is such a good player, that he could likely carry whatever issues Irving brings to the table, as long as James is there to help keep Irving in line.

That wouldn’t be the case in Los Angeles.

If James doesn’t get traded and all of this is a long con to land Irving in Los Angeles with James, then more than likely that team falls apart. Irving’s too chaotic to be in such a major market like LA. Not only that but with Davis’ long-term health always in question, there’ll be a lot of games that James and Irving have to carry the workload. It’s also unlikely, especially with the new CBA rules coming into play, that the Lakers would match an offer put on Reeves.

Sadly for Irving, all the success he thinks he could have with James would have been his had he stayed in Cleveland for the long haul. Instead, he’s going to find out that you can’t recreate the past.