LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. LeBron, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. LeBron, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook. LeBron, Kyrie and Luka Doncic… Wait a minute. The last “big three” on this list sounds like a nightmare for any NBA defense. But next season, this dream may come true for the Mavericks: The other day, Irving contacted James to convince him to move to Dallas.
As crazy as it sounds, he would have a good group in the Mavericks. Luka Doncic, for example, played for LeBron in all four of his All-Star Games, and during his debut NBA season, he said that he was his idol growing up. Dallas head coach Jason Kidd won Olympic gold with Bron in 2008, and in 2019 he was named Frank Vogel’s assistant with the Lakers, where they won the trophy a year later. Then in Los Angeles, by the way, Jared Dudley, Kidd’s current assistant on the Mavericks, played side by side with James.
But first of all, of course, we are talking about Irving, with whom LeBron spent several years in Cleveland, reached the NBA Finals three times and became champion in 2016. That year, it was their duet that decided fate. trophy: Losing 1-3 after four games, the Cavaliers came one step away from defeat in the final series with Golden State. But in Game 5, both Kairi and Bron scored a record 41 points, giving their team a huge victory. Well, at the end of the deciding Game 7, James’s block and Irving’s long-range punch actually put an end to it all.
LeBron James and Kyrie Irving after the 2016 final
Photo: ZUMA/TASS
And now, seven years later, James is a big fan of a reunion with a former Cavaliers teammate. The Lakers tried to sign Irving both last offseason and last trade deadline. Well, this summer rumors began to circulate again that Kyrie would still move to Los Angeles: he attended several team games in the playoffs, after which a video appeared on the network in which one of the team’s coaches He meets the player at the local airport. Phil handy.
And everything would be fine, only internal Lakers sources denied interest in the player. Yes, and Irving himself, apparently, now hopes not to change his club record, but to “recruit” an older comrade into the ranks of the Mavericks. He himself will become an unrestricted free agent on June 30. And while Kyrie has yet to agree to an extension with Dallas, he expressed his desire to stay with the team, regardless of whether LeBron joins or not.
By the way, his possible signing by the Mavericks was considered last year, when the unstable Lakers predicted a second consecutive season without a playoff. However, James renewed his contract with Los Angeles on August 18, 2022, and under current NBA rules, he could not be traded for six months after that date, including the February deadline. In addition, in the remaining year, his salary increase will exceed 5%, which also made Bron unavailable to be traded during the 2022/2023 championship.
But now that the deal is pretty realistic, it turns out the Lakers just aren’t interested in the resources Dallas can cram into it. And conditional Tim Hardaway, Davis Bertans, Josh Green, Jayden Hardy and two first-round picks wouldn’t suit the Lakers’ front office.
Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic
Photo: Sam Hodde/Getty Images
So the most feasible (and at the same time least likely) option for LeBron to reach Dallas would be to opt out. He has a guaranteed year left with a $46.9 million salary and a $50.6 million player option for the 2024/2025 season.
And then another problem arises – financial. Already on July 1, a new collective agreement will enter into force, thanks to which the teams will still have to reckon with a salary cap of $ 134 million, unless, of course, they want to face severe restrictions. Doncic already has a record $207 million supermax contract ($166 million guaranteed). Irving is up by at least four years and $198.5 million, but rumor has it that this number could become $272 million in five years. And if he really wants to bring LeBron to Dallas, they’ll both have to take a significant pay cut. But that is not all. Even in the case of a Lakers deduction, the Mavericks will need to include James’ full salary for next year, that is, $46.9 million, in their payment, and not the amount agreed upon in the purchase.
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Not surprisingly, sources close to the situation are calling LeBron’s move to Dallas “unrealistic.” Yes, Mark Cuban and company still need to think of something. The acquisition of Irving didn’t help the Mavericks achieve much success: they fell out of the play-in zone and finished 11th in the West. In addition, the franchise management really wants to stay with Luka Doncic, who, in case of failure in the next season, can start looking for a new club. But signing LeBron, with all the consequences, is too much.
Lebron James
Photo: Harry How/Getty Images
So is LeBron and Irving’s reunion a dream that won’t come true? No. After all, there is another version of what is happening. Some suggest this is all a clever plan for Lakers managers to rush and still find a contract for Kyrie. There is no significant confirmation of this theory yet, but sometimes such “leaks” are the work of the players themselves. This pairing has already managed to partially divert attention from Nikola Jokic and Jimmy Butler’s battle in the NBA Finals, but we don’t give up and watch Game 3 of the series on the night of June 8. The start is at 3:30 Moscow time.
