Although Kyrie Irving‘s desire to have the Mavericks trade for LeBron James is unrealistic, Dallas is a market the Lakers star would consider if he ever decides to leave L.A., Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack column.
Sources tell Stein that the Mavs began investigating their chances of landing James last season before they acquired Irving in February. The organization understands that James would have to take the initiative in asking for a trade to Dallas for the move to become possible, according to Stein’s sources.
There’s no indication that James will consider requesting such a deal, Stein adds, with his family settled in Los Angeles and his oldest son committed to play for USC. Stein also points out that instead of trying to break up the team’s foundation of James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers opted to rebuild around them and wound up in the conference finals.
Stein’s theory is that it benefits Irving to show the Mavericks that he might have some value as a recruiter who can attract high-level talent to Dallas. It’s believed throughout the league that Dallas wants to re-sign him to a team-friendly contract, so reaching out to James may be a negotiating ploy.
Stein adds that not much has changed for either the Mavericks or the Lakers since their seasons ended. L.A.’s priority will be to keep free agents Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, while the Mavs plan to re-sign Irving and try to trade their first-round pick for veteran help. Stein cites two sources who told him Monday that Irving is happy in Dallas and wants to stay there.
There’s more on the Mavericks:
- Dallas will reach out to ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy to see if he is interested in returning to the sidelines as an assistant coach, Stein reports in another Substack piece. Van Gundy’s last NBA coaching job was 16 years ago, but he has done some international work with Team USA since then. League sources tell Stein that the Mavericks still have interest in adding Jeff Hornacek to Jason Kidd’s staff.
- Tim Cato of The Athletic looks at seven potential trades the Mavs could make with their No. 10 pick. He proposes deals with the Raptors, Hawks, Nets, Kings and Pelicans.
- If the Mavericks keep their pick, the new front office will focus more on athleticism and physicality more than shooting or other skills, Cato adds in a separate story. Team and league sources tell Cato that Dallas isn’t likely to have interest in Kansas sharpshooter Gradey Dick, who may still be on the board in that range.
Kyrie gets too much media space for a guy who has bounced around the last 3-5 years playing irrelevant regular season games.
Hasn’t made any teams better. Hasn’t made a playoff push.
I like wearing his signature shows, though. They’re confortable.
I like wearing his shows, too.
Kyrie Irving gets attention because he’s a superstar and one of the most talented players to ever play the game.
LeBron James will retire a Los Angeles Lakers.
I don’t see Jeff Van Gundy coming back as an assistant coach. I do see Jeff Hornacek joining Jason Kidd on the Dallas Mavericks.
Look, its plain as day if Lebron leaves (huge IF) the Warriors and Clippers are the only teams who line up with all of his needs. His best friend and great all-round human being off the court (but a terrorist on the court), Draymond Green, has been very vocal in how much its his only NBA dream left to play with Lebron, his hero.
If you can’t connect these dots, its because you are a Warriors/Steph Curry hater and you know what is going to happen (he gets more rings).
Like clockwork…always trying to crowbar a GS take into something completely unrelated. Embarrassing drivel.
he is partially right GSW fans are tired of Green’s love affair with Lebron. If Green wants to play with Lebron just opt out and play with him. Just like Laker fans are probably tired with rumors of every star going to LA when they know it is impossible to happen.
Green is too much of a coward to play with LeBron. Can’t handle getting yelled at by his idol
One thing I’ve learned about the NBA is when these stories about the league superstars are reported there is something brewing. I have a feeling Luka will be asking out sooner than later and The Mavs are already trying to cover their mistakes by making a play for Lebron. Cuban calling to lose the last few games really damaged the relationship with Luka. He’s been a winning clutch player for his entire life. It may have been a long shot to win in the playoffs. But with Luka anything was possible. Imagine Riley trying to get that past Jimmy. The Heat lost the first play in game and look where they are. You don’t take the game away from greatness. You let greatness take over the game. I think my Celtics are in best position to land Luka. Jaylen brown and other good young players Williams, Smart, Brogden to include in a trade along with 1sts. Luka and Tatum wow I can dream can’t I.
You made some really good points.
Wow, Luka leaving Dallas would be awful.
Kinda like Tatum leaving for the Lakers.
Which makes me wonder, why did they draft Lonzo Ball? Hahahaha.
Your Celtics won’t be able to pay 3 super max players under the new CBA. It’s going to be tough to pay 2 and still have good depth around them so if luka were to leave Dallas for Boston, it’ll be luka, one of Tatum or brown, and not much else.
Brown would obviously have to be included in the deal. Me you and Kurtis Blow with Tatum and Luka could get to the finals. And I go 11-100 in layup lines by myself every other 3rd Sunday of each month at the Y
1) Luka has no desire to ask out. That is all media driven and social media clowns who have nothing better to do than try to stir up drama like teenage girls.
2) The Mavs are not trying to make a play for Lebron. Even if this story is true all it means is Kyrie called to gauge his interest. The Mavs don’t have the goods to entice the Lakers even if they wanted to trade him. Which they don’t.
3)Cuban and Luka have a great relationship and there is nothing to make anyone think otherwise. Unless you are one of the clowns from point number 1.
4) You obviously didn’t watch the Mavs play in the second half. Their perimeter defense was bad and their rebounding was even worse. They weren’t beating anyone and they did the smart thing and now have a desirable trade asset the would have lost to go lose the play-in by 15. So many people claim teams need to “blow it up” all the time when it doesn’t make any business or basketball sense to do so. They need to spend the off-season acquiring better fitting pieces around Luka and Kyrie. Not trading a generational talent because of one disappointing half season.
5) It was obvious by your regurgitating of ridiculous and unfounded narratives that you were really just crossing your fingers and dreaming about having Luka on your team. You did not fail to come up short there as you ended with your dream of having Luka. It’s time to wake up because that dream isn’t happening.
6) you really should have to blow under the legal limit to be able to post on here.
1-And only 1 , I think it’s fair to say when the time comes ( not now ) Luka looks at Cubans ability to build a real team ( not a 2k dream) and bounces for higher waters
I think the OG poster makes sone valid points sans the immediate trade ideas
The NBA has turned into a video game every year superstars want out. Last year Luka carried a subpar team to the WCF. This year he was stripped of the opportunity by management. You honestly think that didn’t damage his thoughts about the direction of the team and his relationship with the management. Kyrie is an organization destroyer and they decided to trade players that worked for Luka for him. In the NBA where there is smoke there is fire. And have you noticed European players have a lot different attitude than the American born players. (Jokic & Giannis). Do any of them even have a twitter, American players live on social media. It’s a we vs me mentality. They just want to let their game speak for itself. Locality seems to be a big priority to them. Was it loyal to fold the season and take the game from Luka? The NBA has proven the best players win every season. Luka should always be in the playoffs he knows that we know that the league knows that. So when Luka does ask out I hope the number 10 pick was worth it… What team can make a better offer than Brown, Williams, smart or Brogden plus multiple firsts?
And to your point about losing in the play-in… you wouldn’t take Kyrie and Luka to win two games? See the heat and lakers this year. The best players are able to carry teams in basketball.
Again you obviously didn’t watch the Mavs play the second half. Luka and Kyrie were both great and played well together. They lost a lot of games because their perimeter defense was brutal and Luka was their best (practically only) rebounder. It’s hard to win especially in the playoffs just trying to outscore your opponent every night. Luka signed off on the trade. He and Kyrie get along and enjoy playing together. They just need to improve the roster around them. Plus you completely contradict yourself about the players from outside the US. Joker and Freak stayed instead of demanding trades. So why would you assume Luka is going to do the opposite based on what other European players have done? Yeah the Mavs went to the WCF last year and we very much over achieved. Losing Brunson hurt obviously. This team was not getting back there as assembled. They moved Spencer and DFS to bring in Kyrie. So is it really surprising that Kyrie (while being the most skilled of these 4) couldn’t make up for the losses of 3 key contributors. This was never intended to be a trade to push them over the top this year. It was the first step to get a better version of the player they lost in free agency. Now this off-season they can try to fill the void left by the others and hopefully (again) bring in better fitting pieces on defense and down low. This has all been communicated with Luka and he is said to be on board. But some people have zero vision and don’t see the long game or the big picture and just want to run with this false narrative and are short sighted by immediate results. It wasn’t an all in move just the first. That pick they got will be a nice trade chip this summer. I would be happy to revisit this conversation with you at the end of the off-season and at the end of next season. Right now it’s obviously over your head and no offense you seem a bit out of your element. That’s what can happen when you listen to the false narratives the national media wants to spin. Nobody within the Mavs and very few of the fan base are worried about this in the least. Freak showed patience and won. Joker showed patience and is about to win. It may not be next year but Luka will have at least one title in Dallas the next 5 years.
Yup we are lost on the big picture
Ki is your savior and somehow Cuban is going to now decide to learn how to build a roster all while having 2 maxs now, less assets , less draft capital and a stricter cba to navigate under than he did w rd 1 of Luka
Good luck
I’m sorry could you show me where I used the word savior? Could you show me where it is guaranteed that Kyrie is going to get the max? Hardy and Green both raised their stock a lot this year them and #10 are all better assets or trade chips than Spencer or DFS. Even though I hope they don’t trade both and the pick. It’s a lot easier to bring in role players than it is stars. Even though they catch a lot of hell from fanatics Luka and Kyrie are 2 of the 5 top playmakers in the league. Former teammates talk all the time about how much they love playing with them because they make the game easier for them. So I appreciate your sarcastic good luck because obviously there is always luck that goes into roster building. But it’s not like it is an impossible mountain to climb. Sorry if you don’t have the ability to see that.
Nothings impossible, you didn’t really address any of my concerns tho
1-Cubans abilities and history
2-Assets , I think they have less
3- Navigating a newfound 2 max cap roster
4-stricter rules w cap moving forward
Some new ones
5-No defensive indenity ( takes years to establish )
6- A Coach that mailed it in last year
7- A front office That did as well last week iof last season. ( see Ogs post )
8-KI’s ever changing moods – thought this was obv but I’m not making that assumption. Anymore
9- (_potential ) Wild fantasies by front office to think the tooth fairy’s gonna visit and bless this team w gifts moving forward . good teams are built not manufactured.
Thie only pro this team has is lLuka , like I said I hope they are in good standings behind the scenes with him –
1. since Cuban bought the team only 6 teams have more playoff wins. There have been some swings and misses yes. But I think you can say that for every team
2. Must have missed the part where i mentioned Hardy and Green raising their stock plus #10 pick in the draft
3 and 4. Are these rules not for everyone or is it just the Mavs? Also again like I said there is no guarantee that Kyrie is getting the max. If so they will deal with it just like every other team.
5. You need capable defenders which they were lacking. Once again my point about better fitting pieces. It won’t take years that is nonsense.
6. Yeah blame the coach that seems to be the easy answer these days. How many former champion coaches plus Monty Williams took the fall this year? I guess they all “mailed it in”
7. Last year was Nico’s first full off-season and be never had a chance to bring back their top free agent because of Knicks tampering
8. Kyrie is obviously unpredictable but you can say that for a lot of players these days (Durant Lebron Harden Russ Kawai the list goes on but yeah it’s just Kyrie)
9. What wild fantasies? That they are going to try to be aggressive. Is that bad? Is being optimistic bad?
In conclusion most of your stuff is unfounded or really not that big of a deal. I know I have had to repeat myself a lot for you but I would love to further this conversation at the end of the off-season and at the end of next season to see how completely wrong you were. Until then no more free lessons for you.
Who is Ki?
I can see you’re a little nervous as a Mavs fan I don’t blame you. Cuban should drive Kyrie to LA and leave him there. Then try to turn wood and pick 10 into Siakam. Sign Brook Lopez. And ride out with Luka for 15 years. But you have to admit asking Luka to tank did not help the argument of him being happy and appreciated. It’s sports anything can happen my friend. Especially with someone as great as Luka.
Cheers to Dallas vs Boston in many finals in the next 10 years
I promise you are misreading me and what I’m saying if you think I am nervous. I am very optimistic. You could be right it could all blow up in the next two years there is always that risk. But I think they could be in really good position. I would love to get Siakam in a S&T for wood and the 10. That would really raise my level of optimism. Good luck to your Celtics as well!
Luka needs a better team…
If Luka values his legacy he should demand a trade as soon as the ink dries on Kyries new deal…
Im not an expert on all thing mavs by any means, but I do think the national narrative that the Mavs MUST resign Kyrie, even if that means giving him a 5 year max is kinda ridiculous. It’s not like Luka is 30. He’s 23 or 24 I believe and easily has a decade of great basketball still in him. I also dont think the mavs gave up a ton to get him and really that shouldn’t influence what the Mavs do. If they think they can compete for a ring with Kyrie and are comfortable with what they’d have to pay him, then sign him. If not, then move on and keep building a roster that can hopefully be competitive again in a couple years. Not sure why people think the Mavs need to go all in right now? Luka hasn’t acted like he’s not happy being in Dallas.