This offseason has been a peculiar one for LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, to say the least. He picked up his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season, but the news was accompanied by a statement from his agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports that left uncertainty regarding the 40-year-old’s future in the purple and gold.
Paul later clarified that no trade talks have taken place between him and the Lakers, but the decision is really up to James as he holds a full no-trade clause and can control where he wants to play in his 23rd season.
As LeBron awaits to see what the Lakers’ roster will look like, which is starting to take shape after landing Deandre Ayton in free agency, he will have to decide if he wants to stick around and play with Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Co. or if he wants to ask out and finish his career elsewhere.
James and the Lakers have had a cordial partnership over the last seven years, but the possibility of it coming to and end either this summer or next has never been more real. The Lakers reportedly didn’t offer LeBron another year on his contract, which played a part in his decision to opt in and hold onto his max salary and no-trade clause.
By all accounts, James has enjoyed his time in L.A. and has had no previous desires to finish his career anywhere else. He stated exactly that in 2021… 2023… and 2024.
But it’s also clear that he wants to compete for another championship, and if he doesn’t believe the roster Rob Pelinka puts together is good enough to do that, there’s one team that makes the most sense for a trade.
Why Mavericks make sense for LeBron James
Enter Nico Harrison and the Dallas Mavericks.
We all know Harrison and Pelinka have a great relationship and already came together to complete the biggest trade in NBA history earlier this year. So why not one-up it by completing a deal for the first trade of the NBA all-time scoring leader’s career?
All of the speculation surrounding LeBron trades has been on East contenders like the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks, which makes sense given how weak their conference is. What doesn’t make sense though is why either of those teams would want to gut their cores that already have them in the championship mix as is for a potential one-year rental. As great as James still is, and he is still incredible, full stop, the Cavs and Knicks both may hit a road block upon recognizing how much trading for him would shrink their respective windows.
On the other hand, the Mavs are clearly in a short-term championship window, which Harrison made clear when he traded the 26-year-old Doncic for Anthony Davis. So while other general managers might be hesitant to risk their futures, the damage has already been done for Harrison.
By trading for LeBron, he would be able to put together an eventual starting five of James, Kyrie Irving, Cooper Flagg, Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively to go along with quality depth like former Laker D’Angelo Russell, Klay Thompson, Jaden Hardy, Dante Exum and Dwight Powell. Even if they are trading away a lot of their other depth pieces, that is a team that can absolutely compete for a championship in the short-term.
The possibility of playing with Davis and Irving again, and both at the same time, has to be intriguing for James, not to mention the top overall pick in this year’s draft in Flagg, who he is a known fan of.
To add to the intrigue, it was reported by NBA insider Marc Stein on Wednesday that three coaches from the Lakers’ 2020 championship staff could be joining Jason Kidd’s staff in Dallas:
Frank Vogel has agreed to join the Mavericks' coaching staff as associate head coach, league sources say.@HoopsHype's @MikeAScotto was first to report that Vogel has accepted Jason Kidd's pitch to replace Sean Sweeney on the Mavericks' bench. https://t.co/j2TJCWXayi
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 2, 2025
With the long-expected departure of player development specialist God Shammgod from Dallas to Orlando now official, league sources tell @TheSteinLine that former Lakers/Cavaliers/Raptors assistant coach Phil Handy has emerged as a candidate to join the Mavericks' coaching staff. https://t.co/mTwZKru5t0
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 3, 2025
In addition to Handy, league sources tell @TheSteinLine that another candidate for a coaching staff role in Dallas is former Lakers assistant coach (and former title-winning Lakers guard) Mike Penberthy, who has a close relationship with Mavericks star Anthony Davis. https://t.co/wwhZCApeF8
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 3, 2025
Kidd, Frank Vogel, Phil Handy and Mike Penberthy have all obviously had success with a James and Davis led core before, so getting the band back together with some new friends could be the best way for LeBron to get his coveted fifth ring. And let’s not forget, Irving notably tried to recruit James to Dallas in the summer of 2023.
Why would Lakers do this?
Finally, the question you have all been waiting for, which is why would the Lakers willing help turn a Western Conference foe into a championship contender?
The first reason is James’ no-trade clause, which again, allows him to control his destination. At almost 41 years of age, the Lakers would not get a superstar return for LeBron so they would need to salvage whatever they can. And if that’s the case, the Mavs actually has some quality pieces they would love.
Obviously there is proof of concept when it comes to Dallas players and Doncic, who took them to the NBA Finals just one year ago.
A package of Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington, Max Christie, Caleb Martin, Naji Marshall is a combination that works financially for LeBron, Bronny James and Dalton Knecht.
There are a few different variations that work financially, but this one stood out as the best.
Pelinka has taken Harrison to the cleaners in negotiations once before, so maybe he can even get the Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick back since Knecht would be included in the deal and it could help get Harrison back in the good graces of the Dallas fanbase.
Meanwhile, the Lakers would be fully committed to building around Doncic and their urgency to win a title wouldn’t be nearly as great as Dallas’. They would still have a quality young core though, with a 2025-26 roster that looks like this:
G: Austin Reaves, Max Christie, Naji Marshall, Gabe Vincent, Jordan Goodwin
F: Luka Doncic, P.J. Washington, Rui Hachimura, Jake LaRavia, Caleb Martin, Jarred Vanderbilt, Adou Thiero
C: Deandre Ayton, Daniel Gafford, Maxi Kleber
This specific deal would put the Mavericks over the second apron, where they are hard-capped, but they would be able to get back under if they found someone to take on the contract of Olivier-Maxence Prosper, for example.
The Lakers have had notable interest in Gafford for a while and even though he signed an extension with Dallas this offseason, the number he signed for made it so he is still trade-eligible this summer.
That Lakers roster may not win a championship this season, but they are all in their 20s (minus Kleber) and can grow together as a unit under JJ Redick moving forward. The Lakers would also have the financial flexibility, young players, and picks to chase whoever they view is the next superstar to pair with Doncic long-term whenever that player becomes available.
This all may be farfetched, and maybe both teams head into the season with their existing cores, but it also may be something that has been staring us right in the face this whole offseason.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
