LeBron James' Agent: Lakers Star 'Won't Be Traded'; Should Mavs Still Pursue?
With the trade deadline approaching on Feb. 8, rumors, both ridiculous and logical, are swirling. Among the trade deadline news garnering headlines is LeBron James potentially requesting a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers.
While the Lakers have been struggling, as they're currently 25-25 and ninth in the Western Conference, James' agent, Rich Paul, attempted to defuse rumors of his client requesting a trade.
"LeBron won't be traded, and we aren't asking to be," Paul told ESPN.
Could LeBron James team up with Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic in Dallas?
Rumors of a potential trade request from James when David Pingalore of KTLA 5 Sports in Southern California said Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka is "looking for the right team to dance with," and that moving the 39-year-old forward is atop their list. Pingalore has been right before with predicting moves James will make, previously predicting correctly that he wanted to return to Cleveland during his time with the Miami Heat, and that he was eyeing a deal with the Lakers in 2019 before eventually signing with them in free agency.
With Los Angeles middling in mediocrity since winning the In-Season Tournament in December and James potentially hitting free agency this offseason, if there was a year to trade the all-time great, this would be the one. Should the Lakers decide to blow things up, the Dallas Mavericks have to be among the teams blowing up their phones trying to make a deal.
James' window to win a fifth championship isn't getting any bigger, and the Mavericks have yet to get over the hump with Luka Doncic. Doncic has been playing at an MVP level, as he's averaging 34.7 points, 9.6 assists and 8.6 rebounds per game. Falling short of the NBA finals again would mark another year that Dallas wasted Doncic's prime.
There's also the Kyrie Irving factor. The last time James won a championship, it came with Irving on the Cavs in 2016. While their split in 2017 was messy, the two appear to be a on good terms now. Irving also attempted to recruit James last summer.
While a trade of James seems unlikely, it won't hurt Dallas to at least check in with the Lakers. If there's even a slimmer of hope that he can be acquired before the trade deadline, the Mavs shouldn't hesitate to do whatever it takes to land James and become one of the favorites to win a championship.
