Mavericks' LeBron James pipe dream becomes more likely by the day

Heading into the offseason, one of the Los Angeles Lakers' biggest question marks surrounded what they were planning to do with Luka Doncic and LeBron James. While James won them a championship in 2020, the Lakers have sent a clear message since Doncic joined Los Angeles that the team is going to start a slow shift of focusing on their future and building around Doncic, and that would be at the sacrifice of James and his desires.

With this in mind, James' name would spark plenty of conversations in the offseason about what his potential future would be in the NBA and if he may retire in a different jersey than the purple and gold. Now with the season officially tipping off, James and the Lakers appear to have mended their relationship for the time being, but James' future in Los Angeles is still in question as he'll become a free agent next summer.

Plenty of other teams have positioned themselves for a solid pitch as to why they deserve to host James during his potential retirement season, but no team may have a better pitch for James than the Dallas Mavericks. Not only do the Mavericks have some of James ' most iconic teammates in Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis, but the Mavericks could position themselves for a championship run during the 2026-27 NBA season, which may be the best pitch for James to spend his final few years in a Mavericks uniform.

James to the Mavericks may not be a total shot in the dark after all

In a recent podcast episode of 'The Kevin O'Connor Show, ' James' future with the Lakers was discussed, and if he were to leave, where he would likely end up. While it was taken as a hot take or a case that would shock the NBA world if it did happen, NBA analyst Chris Vernon predicted that James would end up in a Mavericks uniform.

Not only did Vernon predict that James would end up in Dallas due to his connection with Davis and Irving, but he also mentioned how this was Nico Harrison's plan all along when he traded Doncic to the Lakers at the trade deadline. Now, this would all be a crazy scenario to happen, but the bottom line is James' future with the Lakers is as murky as it's ever been.

Not only does Dallas make sense due to James' relationships with Davis and Irving, but also the majority of Dallas' coaching staff just so happened to be with the Lakers when they won the 2020 bubble championship. For James, it may be one of the only chances he has at winning a fifth and final championship before hanging up his jersey for the remainder of his professional career.

One of the only question marks about the James and Mavericks connection would be how the Mavericks would complete a deal to obtain a player with a $54 million contract, such as James'. Vernon added that the Mavericks would add a plethora of contracts to trade for James, but the likelihood of the Mavericks packaging more than two players in a deal for an aging James is little to none.

While the Mavericks remain a team to watch for the James watchlist, the likelihood of the 40-year-old joining the Mavericks this season is little to none, meaning their best shot to land him would be in free agency next summer.