Dallas Mavericks now new favorites to land LeBron James

There seems to be a disconnect between star forward LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers organization at this point in time.

According to The Athletic’s Dan Woike, much of the “tension” between the two sides seemingly stems from Los Angeles’ desire to keep its cap sheet as clear as possible starting next summer.

If the relationship between James and the Lakers is broken beyond repair, maybe James will join another team this offseason via trade or as a free agent should Los Angeles buy him out (though that option seems especially unlikely).

The Dallas Mavericks currently have the best odds to land James if he ends up with a new team.

The Mavericks seemingly would be able to put a strong offer for James on the table and still field a talented roster that could contend for a title in the 2025-26 season.

The team already has two star players in guard Kyrie Irving and big man Anthony Davis. Dallas also has a strong supporting cast around those two players and just recently selected forward Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Assuming much of the Mavericks’ core would still be on the roster even after a trade for James, Dallas would have a great mix of young talent and veterans in the coming campaign.

However, the Lakers making any sort of move that could help the Mavericks might rub guard Luka Doncic the wrong way and negatively impact his future with the team. After all, the Mavericks traded him to the Lakers earlier this year not long after he led the team to an appearance in the 2024 NBA Finals.

Maybe all of these rumors will be for naught and James will simply stick around with the Lakers for the 2025-26 season. But if he doesn’t, the Mavericks seem to be a realistic landing spot for him when combining all of the talent on Dallas’ roster and the team’s odds of landing him.