Knicks’ lost draft pick could play key role in Mavericks-LeBron James trade
It was a regular Monday morning until The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that Kyrie Irving has reached out to LeBron James about going to the Mavericks. Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes followed Charania’s report up with one of us own citing Irving’s desire to create a Big Three in Dallas.
The idea of LeBron being traded to Dallas seems to be more of an unlikely scenario at this point, but if it were to happen, the New York Knicks would play a key role in the deal.
No, that doesn’t mean that the Knicks would jump in to make it a three-team trade. Instead, the top-10 protected pick that New York got in the Kristaps Porzingis trade from Dallas would most likely be sent to Los Angeles if a deal were to happen. Thanks to the results of the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery, the Knicks lost their chances of having a first-round pick when the Mavericks were awarded the No. 10 pick.
So, in theory, New York’s decision to trade Porzingis to Dallas in 2019 could help the Mavericks get LeBron. However, if a trade will actually happen is a whole different matter.
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
Knicks’ lost draft pick could assist Mavericks in potential LeBron James trade
Kyrie Irving was traded from the Nets to the Mavericks ahead of the trade deadline and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Before being sent to Dallas, there were rumors that Los Angeles could make a move to reunite Irving and LeBron James. Irving’s looming free agency has reignited the talks of the point guard going to the Lakers, but based on the report, it sounds like Irving has a greater desire to sway LeBron to make the move to Texas.
LeBron teased retirement after the Nuggets swept the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. The chances of LeBron retiring are low, so his mentioning retirement has been viewed as a way to put pressure on Los Angeles. Getting Irving during the offseason would undoubtedly be one way to keep LeBron happy.
Dallas completing a deal for LeBron would be no easy task, but there are a few trades that the Mavericks and Lakers could explore. It’d be a given to include the No. 10 pick in the 2023 draft.
If Dallas somehow manages to get LeBron, Mark Cuban’s tanking efforts at the end of the 2022-23 regular season will have paid off. The Mavericks embarrassingly missed the play-in tournament altogether by finishing the regular season with the 10th-worst record in the league. The Knicks had a slight chance to wind up with the No. 11 or No. 12 pick in the draft, but neither one of those scenarios happened.
The NBA offseason (which hasn’t even officially started yet) is never short of drama and Kyrie Irving trying to recruit LeBron James to the Mavericks proves that.
