Did Kyrie Irving Really Ask LeBron James To Ditch The Lakers And Join the Mavericks?

If LeBron James and the Lakers are unable to bring free agent Kyrie Irving to Los Angeles, then why not convince James to join the Dallas Mavericks?

According to a report by The Athletics‘ Shams Charania, Irving reportedly reached out to the NBA’s highest-scoring player to suggest James make his way over to the team that can pay Irving the most money. Irving has also reportedly spoken to the Dallas Mavericks about arranging a trade for his former teammate.

Sources: Kyrie Irving has reached out to Lakers star LeBron James in attempts to see if James would come to Dallas. Irving is a free agent this offseason.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 5, 2023

As the Dallas Mavericks was the last team Irving played on, he can be signed for a five-year $272 million contract. CBS Sports has reported that James is owed approximately $46.9 million next season, so it’s likely that James won’t be willing to give up that amount of money to play with Irving.

The projected salary of James, Irving, and Luka Doncic is approximately $180 million. With Doncic making $40 million, James pulling in a projected $46.9 million, and Irving most likely making $54 million, would the team have enough money within the cap to pay their other starters and players? Several players on the team still have contracts that need to be paid out, so unless deals are made for players to take significant pay cuts to make the math work, this deal doesn’t seem plausible.

It makes sense that the two players are willing to reunite since they won an NBA championship in 2016 while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They were the first and only team to be down 3-1 and come back to win the next three games and bring home the title after beating the Golden State Warriors, who had the best regular season record that year.