Before they could’ve possibly realized, the Dallas Mavericks might have held the keys to LeBron James.
No reports have linked the Mavs to James — who departed from the Los Angeles Lakers on June 30 and remains unrestricted free agent — but James might have come crawling to the Mavs had they kept his two besties together.
Until early February, the Mavs housed both Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, two of the top teammates James has ever had. According to Lakers Nation analyst Daniel Starkland, the Mavs would have been the top landing spot for James had they not dealt Davis before the trade deadline last season.
“If Dallas didn’t trade AD for peanuts at the deadline then they would’ve been the no-brainer LeBron destination this offseason,” Starkland wrote on X.
Starkland responded to a report by Yahoo Sports NBA insider Kevin O’Conner, who stated people around the league believe James would be inclined to sign with a team that had either Irving or Davis, two players none of the three reported frontrunners for James currently have on their roster.
Mavericks Would Have Been ‘No-Brainer’ Team for LeBron James?
GettyLeBron James has everything he needs to choose among the Cavaliers, Heat, Warriors, 76ers and Timberwolves, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
It is fair to question whether James would choose Dallas as (likely) the final chapter of his career, but Starkland’s premise is logical.
According to O’Conner, James is in no rush to choose his next destination because he is waiting to see if either Davis or Irving gets traded to a team he may be interested in joining.
“The popular theory around the league is that LeBron has been slow-playing his decision to see if any of his suitors could find a way to land Irving or Davis. If a team proved capable of acquiring one of his championship teammates, sources say, it might sway him in that direction,” O’Conner reported. “Nobody has been able or willing to do it yet. The Irving path doesn’t seem to exist, and the Davis situation has stalled. For the first time, LeBron might have to choose between rosters as they are and not rosters as he wishes they were.”
James spent 5 1/2 seasons as Davis’ teammate with the Lakers. The duo won the 2020 NBA title in the Bubble. Years earlier, James and Irving formed one of the league’s most productive duos while leading the Cavs to three consecutive Finals appearances and the historic 2016 title.
Dallas Not Interested in Dealing Star Point Guard at This Time
GettyMINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – MAY 30: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Dallas Mavericks celebrates after a 124-103 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game Five of the Western Conference Finals at Target Center on May 30, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
The Mavs may have gotten rid of Davis, but they are unlikely to do the same with Irving … for now. If James has any desire to reunite with Irving, he’s going to be the one doing the traveling.
According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, the Mavs are committed to Irving and are intrigued by what Irving and rising sophomore sensation Cooper Flagg will look like in tandem next season.
Fischer also noted that the Mavs hold no interest in trading Irving unlike other veterans on the team. Dallas acquired Irving ahead of the 2023 trade deadline.
Irving, 34, missed the 2025-26 season because of a torn ACL. He is expected to be fully healthy by the start of next season, where he could get some serious runs alongside Flagg, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft who took home the Rookie of the Year award after producing 21 points per game while shooting 47 percent from the field.
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