The Los Angeles Lakers are thought to be open to trading LeBron James to the Dallas Mavericks, but their asking price is not one the Mavs would want to oblige.

The Mavericks are reported to have made plans to trade for James during the regular season given the Lakers’ struggles at the time.

And, this week, it’s been revealed that Kyrie Irving has contacted his former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate to try to get LBJ to join him in Dallas.

LeBron James driving to the basket against the Dallas Mavericks

Such a move would give the Mavs a formidable Big 3 and shift the balance of power in the Western Conference. However, Los Angeles isn’t expected to be a willing participant in any trade that involves LeBron, though The Athletic’s Jovan Buha notes that they would bite if they were getting Luka Doncic in exchange.

“If Dallas is offering Luka Doncic for James, then yes, one would assume the Lakers will listen,” Buha writes. “But aside from that, the Lakers aren’t going to trade James to the Mavericks. James could try to force their hand, but that would just likely lead to a messy power struggle.”

The Lakers maintained on Monday that they aren’t interested in adding Kyrie Irving, sources tell @jovanbuha.

One team source indicated that James is not using Irving’s interest in playing with him as leverage to try to get L.A. to trade for Irving.https://t.co/iFxImuOdQE

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 5, 2023

The Mavericks Are Definitely Not Trading Luka Doncic
The Mavs would be averse to trading a player of Luka’s caliber. The Slovenian star has already made four All-NBA First Teams and four All-Star teams at the age of 24 and has been in the MVP conversation every year since he came into the league.

That the Lakers may have suggested that they give him up in order to get LeBron indicates that they simply are not willing to trade the four-time NBA champion.