Shocking LeBron James Mavericks rumors spark troubling Luka Doncic buzz

This offseason has been filled with LeBron James trade rumors, as he opted into his player option for the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this offseason, and the Dallas Mavericks have been tied into much of this buzz. Even though it's clear the Mavs are only interested in James if he gets bought out by the Lakers, as they have no interest in trading for him, the recently revealed report that James was eyeing a move to Dallas is intriguing (before he ultimately opted into his player option).

The new rumors about James wanting to be a Maverick are exciting for Mavs fans, as he could consider signing with Dallas in free agency next summer, but they also could confirm a shocking rumor about Luka Doncic and his dynamic with James on the Lakers that was reported earlier in the summer.

It was reported that James didn't like playing alongside Doncic for the Lakers, and the fact that he was thinking about jumping ship just a few months after Los Angeles traded for Doncic is telling.

LeBron James' Mavs rumors signal questionable Luka Doncic dynamic

For years, James has raved about Doncic's game, and he even tried to sign him to be the first signaure athlete not named LeBron James to join Team LeBron within Nike. There wasn't a bigger Doncic fan around the NBA than James during Doncic's time with the Mavs, as James listed Doncic as his favorite player in the NBA at one point while Doncic has said he idolized James growing up.

Doncic being traded to the Lakers to play with James as his career winds down seemed like a move James would love, as he would like to win another title before retiring, but the new Mavericks rumbles combined with the past Doncic rumbles say the opposite. All signs pointed to James wanting to play with Doncic one day, but, if the recent rumors are true, it might be the contrary.

If James truly loves Doncic and his game as much as he says he does, he wouldn't have been considering an opportunity to join the Mavericks this offseason in free agency, as he and Doncic finally got to team up just a few months earlier. Even though it would have been nearly impossible for the Mavericks to make the logistics of signing James in free agency work, especially since he would have needed to take a major pay cut, these rumors about James wanting to come to Dallas surfacing just a few weeks after the initial Doncic rumors are quite shocking.

James' agent, Rich Paul, putting out a cryptic message this offseason about James wanting to compete for a title right now, months after the Lakers acquired Doncic, is strange. This message seemed to completely disregard that the Lakers just acquired Doncic, an MVP-level and win-now player who makes everyone around him better, as it seems that James and his camp don't think that the Lakers are prioritizing James as they once did.

Doncic is now the ring leader, and it doesn't seem like they are fully focused on jumping through hoops for James and prioritizing him and his future.

The new era in Los Angeles is centered around Luka Doncic, and if LeBron James truly didn't enjoy playing with him, that could open up an entirely new can of worms about Doncic that Mavericks fans would never want to accept.