It’s almost guaranteed the Los Angeles Lakers will be active during the NBA trade season.
If the organization wants to spice things up and make headlines, it could trade a popular father-son duo to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“The Cavaliers are in a solid financial situation, and that includes room under the first luxury tax apron,” King James Gospel’s Josh Cornelissen wrote Thursday.
“That would allow them to make a trade with a team over the first tax apron that cannot take back more salary than they send out.”
“Whatever package the Cavaliers build could total less than the salaries of LeBron and son, making a deal financially possible.”
“The first difficulty, however, is finding that matching salary. LeBron (James) is making $48.7 million this season on a maximum deal.”
“The Cavaliers would either need to include Jarrett Allen’s $20 million salary right at the deadline and stack other salaries on top, or they would need to send out four rotation players; something like Caris LeVert, Max Strus, Dean Wade and Georges Niang.”
“That would absolutely strip the Cavaliers of their depth. It would give them another star, no question, but a star who has taken a step back as a truly elite player and likely wouldn’t deserve an All-Star spot if it were handed out today (he will be an All-Star because the fans will vote him in, but he hasn’t earned it this season).”
“The Cavaliers are also doing great without him, leading the league in wins with stars of their own blossoming.”
“Another very real barrier to a trade is that the Lakers don’t control their own draft for the next few seasons, so if they are going to move LeBron James they will want draft picks and/or young players to being a rebuild.”
“The Cavs don’t exactly have any of those to trade, other than a far-off first-round pick or their one prospect Jaylon Tyson. That’s not a lot to go on.”
“In the end, this idea is lovely but unlikely. Yes, it would be a storybook moment for LeBron to return home with his son for another season or two before he retires a Cavalier, passing the torch to Bronny (James).”
“Yet writing that story would probably make the Cavaliers a worse a team now and shorten their window, making this trade more of a fantasy than anything else.”
James’ NBA journey began with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003.
The 20-time All-Star spent the first seven years of his career in Cleveland before controversially joining the Miami Heat in 2010.
Fortunately for Cavs fans, James returned to Cleveland in 2014 and eventually guided the organization to its first-ever championship.
Witnessing James spend the last few years of his career with his son at his first NBA home would be epic, but convincing the Lakers to give up on their title quest would be a near-impossible task.
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