The LeBron James sweepstakes are finally over. After weeks of waiting and frustration from NBA commissioner Adam Silver himself, he's headed to the Philadelphia 76ers on a two-year, $8 million deal, per Shams Charania of ESPN.
But what do the Dallas Mavericks have to do with this? Well, for one, they were a candidate listed by Rich Paul, James' agent, on an episode of the "Game Over" podcast on a big, long whiteboard. The Mavericks were in the mix because of the Kyrie Irving connection, and because Masai Ujiri has contacts around the globe.
It didn't end up happening, but there was an interesting nugget that came out Friday morning on ESPN by an NBA writer called Vincent Goodwill.
"League sources said James had been angling for former teammate Irving to join him in Cleveland, but the Dallas Mavericks have had no interest in engaging the Cavaliers in a trade, and Irving is believed to be comfortable where he is."
Sources say LeBron James tried to get Kyrie Irving to Cleveland
The Eastern conference teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Miami Heat and the 76ers seemed to be the final three on the list. With Miami already getting Giannis Antetokounmpo taking the spotlight from Miami, and the 76ers not one of James' former teams, the Cavs were a strong option for James to go back to his hometown and run it back with his old buddy.
Again, league sources said James was trying to get to Cleveland with Irving. Was Irving staying in Dallas one of the tipping points for the 76ers' shocker?
To try and get Irving to come back to Cleveland would've been a lot of business work on James' part. It would've made sense to get a Cleveland reunion for James to go back where it all started, but Irving looked like he always wanted to be in Dallas.
This has been in the talks since 2023, and the Mavericks had everything to try and make it happen. A big three between Irving, James and Luka Doncic would've broken the NBA world, but sadly, it never happened, and it looks to be the last move James will make in his career.
The next alternative move? James to Dallas to team with Irving and Cooper Flagg, but if we're honest, the 41-year-old isn't playing for chump change. He wanted to go to an NBA-ready championship team that was truly a "LeBron James" away.
This would've been a long shot, but there has been talk the whole summer about Irving possibly being traded. It doesn't look like that's likely anymore, thanks to Dusty May saying he wants to turn to Irving to help him out. Irving also welcomed May to Dallas and told everybody to flood his DMs and congratulate him. It doesn't sound like Irving is going anywhere.
If anybody could've pulled off an Irving/James reunion, it was going to be James. He was probably playing the waiting game to see what everybody else was doing, but fortunately, Irving is locked in with Dallas.
There was some slight hope for a James-to-Dallas possibility, but Irving going back to Cleveland was even more unlikely.
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