Mavericks are building the perfect recruiting pitch to steal LeBron James from Lakers

Over the past week or so, nonstop speculation has been flying about LeBron James potentially joining the Dallas Mavericks after he opted into his player option with the Los Angeles Lakers. It's clear that many things would have to happen in order for James to become a Maverick, including him being bought out of his contract with the Lakers (since Dallas doesn't have an interest in trading for him), but if that were to happen, the Mavs have the perfect recruiting pitch waiting for him if he were willing to sign for the veteran's minimum.

Dallas quietly has countless members of the Lakers' 2020 NBA Finals-winning team within the organization, as Jason Kidd, Frank Vogel, and newly signed Mike Penberthy are all part of the coaching staff. The Mavs are also interested in signing Phil Handy to join their coaching staff, who was an assistant coach for the Lakers for five years with James on the roster, but the connections to James within the organization don't end there.

Dallas just signed D'Angelo Russell to a two-year deal, and he and James played together for the Lakers for a few seasons. On top of Russell, some of James' other notable teammates who are on the Mavs include Max Christie, Anthony Davis, and Kyrie Irving.

Mavericks have all the pieces to convince James to come to Dallas

Irving tried to recruit James to the Mavericks a few summers ago, and if James were to somehow get bought out by Los Angeles, it seems likely that Irving would push for Dallas to sign his former teammate once again.

James and Irving were one of the most special duos in the NBA during their time together on the Cleveland Cavaliers, as their run to the 2016 NBA Finals and 3-1 comeback over the Golden State Warriors will be etched into NBA history forever. James having the chance to compete for another title alongside Irving may be an opportunity that he can't pass up, and Dallas may provide him with more comfort than any other destination if he did push to be bought out by the Lakers.

Teaming up with beloved former teammates and coaches would make his transition to the Mavericks as smooth as possible, as he is close with countless members of the organization. Not to mention, Nico Harrison and James were with Nike together for years, and if James did somehow fit free agency, he seems like a player Harrison would be interested in.

Even though Dallas won the NBA Draft Lottery and selected Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick, Harrison wants to win a title right now, and James would be the ultimate player to help them reach that goal.

James has a clear championship pedigree, and while the on-court fit would be interesting at first, considering how much frontcourt depth the Mavs have, he would help bring them one step closer to becoming a title-contending team. It's obvious that the Lakers don't have a good enough roster to help James win his fifth title, but if he were to join the Mavericks, they would immediately become one of the top contenders in the NBA.

A big four of James, Flagg, Irving, and Davis would have the potential to take over the league, and since Irving is set to miss a massive portion of next season with a torn ACL, James would help bridge the gap until he returns.

A long series of events would have to happen for James to become a Maverick, including James requesting a trade out of Los Angeles, no teams in the NBA being willing to give up assets to trade for James, the Lakers then being forced to buy out James, and then decide to join the Mavs once he becomes a free agent. The chances of all of these things happening are slim, but if James' Lakers tenure turned into chaos and he forced a buyout, the Mavericks would have as good of a case as anyone to try to convince him to sign with them.