NBA Insider Believes LeBron James Has ‘Some Genuine Curiosity’ About Playing for Dallas Mavericks

NBA insider Marc Stein of The Stein Line believes LeBron James has “some genuine curiosity” about playing for the Dallas Mavericks.

LeBron has a lot of connections with the Mavericks. He played with Kyrie Irving on the Cleveland Cavaliers and was teammates with Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell on the Los Angeles Lakers.

LeBron has also been coached by Phil Handy and Jason Kidd.

“I believe that LeBron James does have some genuine curiosity about playing in Dallas,” Stein wrote. “Bear in mind that he is extremely settled off the floor in Los Angeles. It has been his family’s primary home base for the past seven years and he is building a new home in Beverly Hills. To play elsewhere at this stage of his life and career could well require a landing spot that can provide a special level of comfort to take him away from all that.

“The Mavericks would seem to be uniquely suited to offer that with so many people in Dallas he already knows well, from general manager Nico Harrison and coach Jason Kidd to former teammates Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving.”

Dallas is not interested in trading for LeBron, who will make $52.6 million next season. The Mavericks would obviously be interested in signing LeBron if he gets bought out by the Lakers, but that probably won’t happen.

The leading scorer in NBA history, LeBron turns 41 in December. He finished sixth in MVP voting and made the All-NBA Second Team last season, showing the entire basketball world that he’s still an elite force despite being the oldest active player in the league.

LeBron will become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2026 for the first time since 2018. If he doesn’t retire after next season, it will be fascinating to see where King James is playing in 2026-27.