Nets Once Inquired About LeBron James' Availability

Before the Brooklyn Nets set their sights on a trio of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden, there was a different pipedream.

LeBron James, the leading scorer in NBA history, was once a target for Brooklyn according to Bobby Marks.

The ESPN insider spent five seasons as an assistant general manager with the Nets, during which he placed several calls to the Cleveland Cavaliers then-general manager David Griffin.

“We used to do that in the Nets office when LeBron was in Cleveland,” Marks said on a recent episode of The Kevin O'Connor Show. “They’d [the Cavaliers] go on like a five-game losing streak and we’d call and be like, ‘You gonna do anything with LeBron at the deadline?’ And he’d [Griffin] hang up the phone on us.”

Even though Marks was obviously joking, James in Brooklyn certainly would've been a landscape-changing move.

To have the league's brightest star in the nation's biggest market would've done wonders financially, especially if the Nets could've paired James with either Vince Carter or Jason Kidd.

While Marks didn't specify the exact year these inquiries took place, it's safe to assume he was referencing sometime between 2003-2010.

Carter, who had his No. 15 jersey sent to the rafters in Brooklyn's loss to the Miami Heat on Saturday night, would've been on the roster at this time.

The same goes for Kidd, creating an intriguing hypothetical scenario.

It's been over a decade since these unserious talks took place, so there's no harm in having some fun.

Would the Nets, who resided in New Jersey back then, be willing to move either Carter or Kidd to acquire a young yet still dominant James?

Could Griffin have demanded both, as well as a massive haul of draft capital?

Brooklyn has never been shy when it comes to acquiring star talent. The moves for Durant, Irving and Harden were blockbusters and established the Nets as title-contenders regardless of how successful they were in hindsight.

James ultimately left Cleveland due to a lack of an effort to surround him with high-level contributors, but if he had landed in New Jersey, one of the all-time greats may have earned his first championship far before the Heat's 2012 title run.

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