What Mavericks won’t do for LeBron James trade

If LeBron James is traded, the Dallas Mavericks are one of the favorites to acquire him from the Los Angeles Lakers, despite how unpopular the most recent Lakers-Mavericks blockbuster trade was.

Unlike when the Mavericks stunningly dealt Luka Doncic to the Lakers in February for Anthony Davis and Max Christie, James will be hyper-aware of any potential deal, considering he has a no-trade clause. The Mavericks would also seem like a good fit for James with former championship teammates Davis and Kyrie Irving already there, as well as the likes of Dereck Lively II, Klay Thompson, and No. 1 overall draft pick Cooper Flagg.

But Dallas has reportedly set a hard line in the proverbial sand that it will not go over.

“One team linked to James — the Dallas Mavericks — does not have interest in gutting its roster to match James’ salary in a trade, a team source told The Athletic,” according to Dan Woike and Joe Vardon.

Although that is very reasonable, it would also appear to indicate that the Mavericks are not that interested in trading for James. This coming season, his record-setting 23rd in the NBA, James will earn $52.6 million, a salary so high it is prohibitive for teams that would otherwise be interested in acquiring the 40-year-old.

It can still be done, technically, but if the Mavericks, who are hard-capped at the second apron, are determined to maintain their depth, there aren’t a lot of options for them. Theoretically, they could trade just Davis, who makes the most of any player on the team ($54.1 million) in what would be the most bizarre deal ever, far surpassing the Davis-for-Doncic trade five months ago. But that would appear to be Dallas’s only option where multiple players aren’t traded.

Another point in any potential trade, though, is James himself. As one of the only players in the league with a no-trade clause, James can block any trade that involves him, which he could do, especially if he really wanted to make things difficult for the Lakers or a team trying to acquire him.

With the Mavericks seemingly reluctant to trade multiple valuable members of their roster to bring in James, Dallas could be out of the running in the LeBron sweepstakes, if that is even truly a thing. James, despite the noise he and agent Rich Paul have made this offseason, would appear to be likely to return to L.A. for the 2024-25 season, his eighth with the Lakers.