Grade the Trade: Lakers fleece Mavericks in LeBron trade proposal

The NBA world is abuzz once again with rumors swirling around LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. This time, it’s not the Brooklyn Nets trading Irving to the Los Angeles Lakers, nor the Lakers finding a way to sign him in free agency.

This time it’s Kyrie Irving recruiting LeBron James to join him on the Dallas Mavericks. That’s a wild scenario no one was speculating about, as James is both under contract for next season and was, by his own admission, considering retirement. Now it’s a possibility that has to be considered.

The Lakers have to get the most out of a LeBron trade

If LeBron does want to join Irving, one extremely unlikely way to get there is to negotiate a contract buyout with the Lakers and sign a bargain deal with the Mavericks. Much more likely is that the Lakers and Mavericks work out a trade.

Without evaluating whether or not the Lakers should trade LeBron James, let’s take a moment to evaluate what such a trade could look like. We recently discussed which players the Lakers should demand in a trade; let’s put that all together and see the deal the Lakers would need to see in order to send LeBron James to Dallas.