The only way Dallas can actually steal LeBron James from Lakers

The NBA community was collectively left dumbfounded Monday when multiple league insiders reported Kyrie Irving reached out to LeBron James to recruit him to the Dallas Mavericks. This comes weeks after James hinted at retirement, seemingly as a leverage play to incentivize the Los Angeles Lakers front office to bring in more championship-ready players.

Everyone speculated that Irving would top LA’s shopping list.

However, acquiring the polarizing point guard would require Rob Pelinka to move mountains. Perhaps Irving is aware of that and went out of his way — maybe without even consoling Luka Doncic or Mark Cuban — to see if James would be open to being traded to Dallas.

A trade is the only way James and Irving could possibly reunite this summer. We suppose James could force the Lakers’ hand, but this is the best shape the roster has been in since the Bubble. Why abandon ship now, especially when the Mavs would have to further gut their roster to bring him in?

At the end of the day, there’s only one tenable scenario where Irving gets his way: If Dallas keeps its 2024 first-round pick and drafts Bronny James.

How the Mavericks can steal LeBron James from the Lakers

It’s no secret that James is holding out hope to team up with Bronny. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported after the Lakers were eliminated in the Western Conference Finals that LeBron’s desire to share the court with his son will “trump everything” as far as his playing future.

It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Dallas could draft Bronny. They own their 2024 first-round pick, but it’s only top-10 protected. If it falls between selections11 through 30, the New York Knicks get the rights to the pick as a result of the Kristaps Porzingis trade.

For what it’s worth, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony mocked Bronny No. 10 overall to the Orlando Magic in a late-February mock draft.

Essentially, the Mavericks need to suffer through another miserable season to make this happen. Much to the chagrin of Doncic, they tanked down the stretch of the 2022-23 regular season in order to keep their 2023 first-round pick even though the play-in tournament was within reach.

Should Dallas risk further disgruntling Doncic in the slim chance they might draft Bronny and net LeBron as a free agent? What if the plan goes awry and Luka demands a trade and the Mavs are left with nothing?

There’s so many stars that have to align perfectly — none more notable than the Mavericks maintaining their first-round pick for another season.

In other words, Lakers fans should focus their energy on anything else — like what moves Pelinka can make to position LA for another championship run.

4 Mavericks players the Lakers have to demand in any LeBron trade

If the Los Angeles Lakers are going to entertain a LeBron James trade, they are going to have to get everything back from the Dallas Mavericks.