Undoubtedly, the Los Angeles Lakers from 2021 are not anyone’s ideal representation of a championship team. With a record tied with the 11th-seeded Houston Rockets and only 1.5 games ahead of the 12th-seeded Golden State Warriors, the squad is a pitiful tenth seed in the Western Conference.
If there were no upcoming Lakers trades—which would be a rash assumption considering what we know about general manager Rob Pelinka—would LA superstar forward LeBron James ever honestly consider forcing his way off a potentially sinking ship midseason in search of better opportunities?
The possibility that James would try to join his old Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Kyrie Irving and Irving’s fellow All-Star guard Luka Doncic on the 24-17 Dallas Mavericks, who are currently the sixth seed in the conference, was discussed in a recent interview between Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson of Bovada Casino and Landon Buford of Forbes.
“Of course [I’d like to see James in Dallas], but how is this going to actually happen?” Buford ponders. “Does Dallas have the necessary trade pieces? And how in the world are they going to let LeBron to leave Los Angeles while Kyrie and Luka aren’t included in the trade?”
Robinson speculates that “LeBron would have to seek a buyout.”
“How many opportunities were they going to have [to get] that type of talent coming to the city?” Buford queries. “To be honest, it’s been nearly 13 years since they won the NBA title [against James’ Miami Heat in 2011]. I mean, Mark Cuban is a gambler. He would pay for a title, I promise, if they could assure him of that.”
There’s
