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Rumor: Mavericks Have Not Tried To Trade For Lakers’ LeBron James

Originally posted on Hoops Wire | By Ashish Mathur | Last updated Jul 26, 2025 2:59 PM ET

The Dallas Mavericks have not tried to trade for Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, according to NBA insider Marc Stein of The Stein Line.

LeBron will make $52.6 million next season. He makes too much money for Dallas.

“As I’ve been reporting for weeks: They have not tried to trade for him and do not want to try to trade for him if it means surrendering multiple rotation pillars for a player who turns 41 in December,” Stein wrote. “If LeBron James suddenly became a free agent they could sign to a minimum deal, that’s a different discussion. I believe strongly that they would want him in that scenario.

“But who really expects that to happen? James just earned All-NBA Second Team honors last season. Do you think the Lakers will just give up on this season and buy him out in August or September and set James up to walk to Dallas or Golden State or New York? I don’t.”

LeBron has a lot of connections to the Mavericks. He has played with Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell and been coached by Phil Handy and Jason Kidd.

The Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers last season for Davis and Max Christie. Dallas missed the playoffs after reaching the NBA Finals in 2024.

Stein believes LeBron has “some genuine curiosity” about playing for the Mavericks.

“I believe that 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.”