Rich Paul's latest drama should help Cleveland Cavaliers trade for LeBron James

After losing to the 13th seeded Utah Jazz at home on Monday, it is obvious that the Cleveland Cavaliers need to make a change to remain contenders this season.

While many schools of thought remain on the best course of action to correct the Cavs back onto the championship path, the best option might lie in a trade.

NBA super agent Rich Paul was recently drumming up Lakers trade rumors on his and Max Kellerman’s podcast, “Game Over."

Paul went on tangent heavily suggesting that the Lakers need to trade rising star Austin Reaves for an established star like Jaren Jackson Jr to remain contenders themselves this season.

As Cavs fans know well, when Rich Paul starts publicly discussing trades it typically means James has lost faith in the current roster’s ability to contend.

If true, the Cavs would be in a prime position to pull James himself out of Los Angeles if the Lakers are unwilling to meet his requests.

How would a second return work?

Now with the trade deadline less than a month away, James is planting his flag through Paul.

He does not think this Lakers roster can win as is. He also has a no-trade clause, and should the situation quickly sour, he will control his next landing spot.

If his hometown organization in the Cavaliers were to reach out to his representation to inform them that they have found a competitive path to clearing the salary space needed to acquire the 41-year-old, it would be extremely difficult for James to say no thanks.

Cavs would need salary cap magic

The Athletic mentioned Operation PickThaw in an article breaking down potential trades for every team ahead of the deadline.

This plan outlines a potential route for the Cavaliers to return to below the second apron this season, thereby thawing their frozen first-round pick in 2032.

This plan also lifts all of the second apron restrictions off the Cavaliers and would give them an exceptional amount of freedom to edit the roster before the deadline, appropriately changing Operation PickThaw into Operation Homecoming.

Operation Homecoming

The first contract that would need to go is that of De’Andre Hunter who is making $23 million this season.

Teams that might be on the lookout for Hunter would include teams with tons of cap space, or even large trade exceptions. A perfect landing spot for Hunter would be the Nets, who have the most cap space in the league and plenty of small deals to return to the Cavs.

The next contract to be moved would need to be Lonzo Ball. With Craig Porter Jr. more than capable of taking over the full-time backup point guard duties, Ball is another prime candidate to be traded away for cap relief.

With Ball only making $10 million he could be moved to many teams ahead of the deadline in exchange for cap relief.

Acquiring LeBron

With both of those individual deals completed, the Cavaliers would be under the second apron and able to trade multiple players in a deal to acquire LeBron James.

The trade would likely revolve around Jarrett Allen and Max Strus, as the Lakers are in dire need of a center and unlikely to return much for a player making a trade request and exercising their no trade clause to force a trade at the deadline.