It has been nearly a month since LeBron James left the Los Angeles Lakers, but he is still undecided on his free agency, leading to multiple theories sprouting left and right.
One of them is that he is waiting for the Cleveland Cavaliers to trade James Harden to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Kyrie Irving. Of course, James found success with Irving, leading the Cavaliers to their first title in 2016, and a reunion could be enticing for the 41-year-old forward.
Harden, meanwhile, has expressed his desire to play with James, even declining his $42.3 million player option to give Cleveland more salary room to sign the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
According to Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin O’Connor, a trade involving Harden and Irving seems unlikely for two reasons: 1. The Mavericks want to keep Irving and 2. The Cavaliers want to keep Harden.
“Swapping Harden for Irving would be asking Cleveland to trade a durable point guard for a fragile one. Irving just lost an entire season, and even before tearing his ACL, he played an average of 45 games in his previous six seasons. The last time Kyrie played 70 games, he was still a Cavalier,” wrote O’Connor.
“Harden, meanwhile, remains one of the most reliable stars in the sport, logging 70-plus games played for three seasons running. Ripping up a conference finals roster and attaching draft capital to a complex sign-and-trade with Dallas may not be the most sensible thing to do. All just to convince a 41-year-old to sign with you.”
O’Connor acknowledged that Irving is a better fit for James, citing their “natural rhythm,” but he stressed that the Cavaliers are sticking with Harden, whom they acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers in February.
Harden was recently roasted by fans for wanting to form a star-studded trio with James and Donovan Mitchell.
Last month, Masai Ujiri, the new president of basketball operations of the Mavericks, affirmed that they were not keen on shopping Irving, expressing excitement for the talented guard’s pairing with Cooper Flagg.