LeBron James Wants Mavs? This 3-Way Trade with Lakers & Suns Fits

Kyrie Irving has reportedly been trying to recruit LeBron James to the Dallas Mavericks, and if those efforts are successful, we have a 3-way trade proposal involving the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns that could work.

Here at DallasBasketball.com, we survey the NBA landscape and try to read the tea leaves before putting together hypothetical trade proposals. Today, we have a 3-way trade idea that could work for all three teams involved … that is, if Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James ultimately decides he wants to join forces with Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic.

Given what we know about Irving trying to recruit James to the Dallas Mavericks, and the Phoenix Suns potentially moving on from Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton, here is the 3-way trade between Dallas, Phoenix and Los Angeles that we believe could work.

Mavs receive: LeBron James

Suns receive: D’Angelo Russell (via sign-and-trade), Christian Wood (via sign-and-trade), and Tim Hardaway Jr.

Lakers receive: Chris Paul, Deandre Ayton, Maxi Kleber and Dallas’ 2027 first-round pick

If the Suns move on from Paul and Ayton, they’ll need a new point guard and big man. D’Angelo Russell likely isn’t returning to the Lakers no matter what, and he’s good friends with Suns star Devin Booker, so we could see that being a match. Christian Wood likely isn’t returning to Dallas either, and given how he played against Phoenix this year, perhaps the Suns would be interested in having him take Ayton’s place for a little over half the price. And finally, Tim Hardaway Jr. adds much-needed shooting on a manageable two-year contract.

For the Lakers, if 38-year-old LeBron, who has hinted at retirement and could become an unrestricted free agent next summer, wants to finish his illustrious career elsewhere, then you have to just take the best you can get. Maybe a package of Paul, Ayton, Maxi Kleber and the Mavs’ 2027 first-round pick isn’t the best L.A. can get, but it’s certainly better than nothing. 

And who knows? Depending on how the next two seasons go for the Mavs, that 2027 pick might turn into something big if Doncic ever decides to leave Dallas. We don’t anticipate that happening, but it’s a selling point to the Lakers at the very least.

For the Mavs, we concede, this is the best-case scenario. You get LeBron James to pair with Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, while also retaining Jaden Hardy, Josh Green and No. 10 pick in this year’s draft. This idea is certainly of the pipe-dream variety, but it’s also easy to make a valid argument for it. The NBA is a superstar-driven league, and guys like James typically get what they want. The Mavs should hope to be on that “wanted” list.

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