Can We Talk LeBron Yet?

[jayjaysee]

The only reasonable while feasible team will be MIA, Wiggins + Rozier + minor asset for LeBron

I think Dallas is actually pretty reasonable if everyone can forgot about the first trade the teams made..

Lively/Powell
AD/Prosper
Flagg/Martin
LBJ/Christie
DLO/Nembhard/Exum

With room to sign 3-4 vet mins.. Would be a fun playoff run for Dallas..

Probably would tie in a third team getting Maxi so LAL keeps Gafford, PJ, Klay, Naji, Hardy?

But if LAL wants cap space/ezpirings, you could probably use Gafford’s value to dump Klay and Naji’s value to dump Hardy?

[JHFVF07]

The only reasonable while feasible team will be MIA, Wiggins + Rozier + minor asset for LeBron

I think Dallas is actually pretty reasonable if everyone can forgot about the first trade the teams made..

Lively/Powell
AD/Prosper
Flagg/Martin
LBJ/Christie
DLO/Nembhard/Exum

With room to sign 3-4 vet mins.. Would be a fun playoff run for Dallas..

Probably would tie in a third team getting Maxi so LAL keeps Gafford, PJ, Klay, Naji, Hardy?

But if LAL wants cap space/ezpirings, you could probably use Gafford’s value to dump Klay and Naji’s value to dump Hardy?

I would easily do this trade.

Luka/Vincent
Reaves/Hardy
Naji/Vando
PJ/Rui
Gafford/Ayton

[jbk1234]

Does anyone know when the scheduled payments on LBJ's contract are?

[ACMFFL]

The only reasonable while feasible team will be MIA, Wiggins + Rozier + minor asset for LeBron

I think Dallas is actually pretty reasonable if everyone can forgot about the first trade the teams made..

Lively/Powell
AD/Prosper
Flagg/Martin
LBJ/Christie
DLO/Nembhard/Exum

With room to sign 3-4 vet mins.. Would be a fun playoff run for Dallas..

Probably would tie in a third team getting Maxi so LAL keeps Gafford, PJ, Klay, Naji, Hardy?

But if LAL wants cap space/ezpirings, you could probably use Gafford’s value to dump Klay and Naji’s value to dump Hardy?

But why should DAL bid against themselves? Apparently no team is willing to gut their roster to acquire LBJ, according to Bobby Marks there would not be a trade market for him if he asks out..

What HOU did with PHX for KD is the right approach: this is my offer (Klay/Gaff/Caleb/Naji/OMax, no PJ, no 1st) take it or leave it.
And I still don't know if it's worth it to bring in the LeBron circus around Flagg but price is reasonable at least.

[jayjaysee]

The only reasonable while feasible team will be MIA, Wiggins + Rozier + minor asset for LeBron

I think Dallas is actually pretty reasonable if everyone can forgot about the first trade the teams made..

Lively/Powell
AD/Prosper
Flagg/Martin
LBJ/Christie
DLO/Nembhard/Exum

With room to sign 3-4 vet mins.. Would be a fun playoff run for Dallas..

Probably would tie in a third team getting Maxi so LAL keeps Gafford, PJ, Klay, Naji, Hardy?

But if LAL wants cap space/ezpirings, you could probably use Gafford’s value to dump Klay and Naji’s value to dump Hardy?

But why should DAL bid against themselves? Apparently no team is willing to gut their roster to acquire LBJ, according to Bobby Marks there would not be a trade market for him if he asks out..

What HOU did with PHX for KD is the right approach: this is my offer (Klay/Gaff/Caleb/Naji/OMax, no PJ, no 1st) take it or leave it.
And I still don't know if it's worth it to bring in the LeBron circus around Flagg but price is reasonable at least.

Houston gave up pick 10 for KD…

Flagg talked about how good it will be to play with AD and Kyrie, wouldn’t playing with LBJ be better? Someone who plays the same style as what we hope Flagg does?

LBJ is 40 and it’s a one year play most likely, so agree about not including the LA first.. but can’t really understand PJ Washington in a walk year being off the table for a year of actually being a contender.

[jbk1234]

I think Dallas is actually pretty reasonable if everyone can forgot about the first trade the teams made..

Lively/Powell
AD/Prosper
Flagg/Martin
LBJ/Christie
DLO/Nembhard/Exum

With room to sign 3-4 vet mins.. Would be a fun playoff run for Dallas..

Probably would tie in a third team getting Maxi so LAL keeps Gafford, PJ, Klay, Naji, Hardy?

But if LAL wants cap space/ezpirings, you could probably use Gafford’s value to dump Klay and Naji’s value to dump Hardy?

But why should DAL bid against themselves? Apparently no team is willing to gut their roster to acquire LBJ, according to Bobby Marks there would not be a trade market for him if he asks out..

What HOU did with PHX for KD is the right approach: this is my offer (Klay/Gaff/Caleb/Naji/OMax, no PJ, no 1st) take it or leave it.
And I still don't know if it's worth it to bring in the LeBron circus around Flagg but price is reasonable at least.

Houston gave up pick 10 for KD…

Flagg talked about how good it will be to play with AD and Kyrie, wouldn’t playing with LBJ be better? Someone who plays the same style as what we hope Flagg does?

LBJ is 40 and it’s a one year play most likely, so agree about not including the LA first.. but can’t really understand PJ Washington in a walk year being off the table for a year of actually being a contender.

Also, the Lakers have to agree to the trade.

[Mavrelous]

Mavs are looking a2 2nd Apron certainty with lots of flotsam that isn't really needed, while having a 10 years building block on roster and little flexibility.
LeBron not only raises the ceiling next year, but also resets the books, I'm all for trading for LeBron, with Klay, Gafford, PJ and Martin as the bulk of the salary, I have Klay, Gafford and Martin together as negative value package, and Lakers won't see them as a return they'd entertain for LeBron, they'll waive him before taking that.
I don't see LeBron agreeing to go to Miami with Wiggins coming back, he needs the wing defender next to him to be able to contend, Miami isn't flush with talent either.
At this stage, buyout and signing with Cleveland is a likely possibility, if LeBron wants out, I can't imagine Lakers holding the door to prevent him, most likely they use his salary to trade for rotation players on 1/2 years deal with the agreement he's getting waived (LeBron/1st for Calxton/MPJ or LeBron for Smart and Middleton, etc...)

[JHFVF07]

I dont believe Lebron will get a buyout, he is too self conscious to allow it. And his presence is positive on court, Lakers wont lose him for nothing. But I believe that younger 3-D guys that arent extremely overpaid would do the magic.

[jayjaysee]

But why should DAL bid against themselves? Apparently no team is willing to gut their roster to acquire LBJ, according to Bobby Marks there would not be a trade market for him if he asks out..

What HOU did with PHX for KD is the right approach: this is my offer (Klay/Gaff/Caleb/Naji/OMax, no PJ, no 1st) take it or leave it.
And I still don't know if it's worth it to bring in the LeBron circus around Flagg but price is reasonable at least.

Houston gave up pick 10 for KD…

Flagg talked about how good it will be to play with AD and Kyrie, wouldn’t playing with LBJ be better? Someone who plays the same style as what we hope Flagg does?

LBJ is 40 and it’s a one year play most likely, so agree about not including the LA first.. but can’t really understand PJ Washington in a walk year being off the table for a year of actually being a contender.

Also, the Lakers have to agree to the trade.

Agree..

LAL getting Gafford/PJ means they can do the same thing Dallas did with Luka and try to upgrade Reaves or PJ later on.. But Luka and good defense has proven to make playoff runs.

LAL getting Gafford and depth pieces means LAL might as well stick with the current weird/bad plan of maintaining cap space and hoping LBJ has one great run left in him.

[jayjaysee]

I don’t believe Cleveland will be able to sign LBJ if he gets bought out? Not that I expect LAL to buy LBJ out..

I don’t really remember that new rule, but think teams over the second apron aren’t allowed to sign buyouts who made over the MLE?

[Mavrelous]

I don’t believe Cleveland will be able to sign LBJ if he gets bought out? Not that I expect LAL to buy LBJ out..

I don’t really remember that new rule, but think teams over the second apron aren’t allowed to sign buyouts who made over the MLE?

Only if he is bought out in season, if he's bought out before they can...

[ACMFFL]

I think Dallas is actually pretty reasonable if everyone can forgot about the first trade the teams made..

Lively/Powell
AD/Prosper
Flagg/Martin
LBJ/Christie
DLO/Nembhard/Exum

With room to sign 3-4 vet mins.. Would be a fun playoff run for Dallas..

Probably would tie in a third team getting Maxi so LAL keeps Gafford, PJ, Klay, Naji, Hardy?

But if LAL wants cap space/ezpirings, you could probably use Gafford’s value to dump Klay and Naji’s value to dump Hardy?

But why should DAL bid against themselves? Apparently no team is willing to gut their roster to acquire LBJ, according to Bobby Marks there would not be a trade market for him if he asks out..

What HOU did with PHX for KD is the right approach: this is my offer (Klay/Gaff/Caleb/Naji/OMax, no PJ, no 1st) take it or leave it.
And I still don't know if it's worth it to bring in the LeBron circus around Flagg but price is reasonable at least.

Houston gave up pick 10 for KD…

Flagg talked about how good it will be to play with AD and Kyrie, wouldn’t playing with LBJ be better? Someone who plays the same style as what we hope Flagg does?

LBJ is 40 and it’s a one year play most likely, so agree about not including the LA first.. but can’t really understand PJ Washington in a walk year being off the table for a year of actually being a contender.

KD is definitely more valuable than LBJ imho, he's 3 years and half younger and teams are still willing to offer him supermax money, that's not LBJ case anymore. And I have PJ+Gaff>#10. If PJ is included, LAL have to give up Knecht at very least.

Ofc LAL have to agree but so does Dallas, and it makes zero sense to renounce all the depth and improve a conference rival for 1 year of LBJ. It's not our business to bail LAL out when they need it the most, only MIA could make an offer for him, can't see any other team gutting the roster for 1 year of LeBron.

[PistolPeteJR]

Quoted for truth. I'm guessing either #2 or #3 will be what happens.

Zero chance he wastes a year sitting at home. All signs indicate that he's willing to play this season out, I'm not really sure why people think the situation is toxic enough for him to be sent home. This whole thing is standard Lebron fare.

I think this is more of a extreme solution if both sides can't agree to ether play out the season or agree to a buyout, so not likely but yet far from impossible. The relationship between Lebron/Lakers is at a all time low with no signs of it getting any better. I think this resolves by Lebron agreeing to play out the season and then leaving afterwards. However there are some building block that could led to Lebron being sent home for the season should thing get really ugly.

Yeah there's a 0.000000000001% chance he does this, just to be clear. 22 years of history show that.

[Karmaloop]

KD is definitely more valuable than LBJ imho, he's 3 years and half younger and teams are still willing to offer him supermax money, that's not LBJ case anymore. And I have PJ+Gaff>#10. If PJ is included, LAL have to give up Knecht at very least.

Ofc LAL have to agree but so does Dallas, and it makes zero sense to renounce all the depth and improve a conference rival for 1 year of LBJ. It's not our business to bail LAL out when they need it the most, only MIA could make an offer for him, can't see any other team gutting the roster for 1 year of LeBron.

I definitely do NOT have PJ and Gafford as more valuable than the 10th pick. Maybe a win-now team might do that, but I'd venture a guess that the majority of teams would prefer the upside of the pick as opposed to the two Mavs' role players. I'm not sure what the deal is with the board, but role players are vastly overvalued.

For the Lakers, they're clearly better off with LBJ than they are without him. Even at 40 years old, he along with Luka Doncic make the Lakers title contenders. Not favorites, but they could win a title together. But with the Lakers starting to shift their focus towards their post-LeBron era with Luka, they're not going to make short-sighted moves to appease LeBron. That being said, he's a $50M+ expiring contract so at the very least they'll eat the salary (spoiler alert, they won't!) so they're not taking back unnecessary money if they don't have to. That being said, the Lakers/Mavericks deal is pretty straightforward. It's Gafford/PJ/salary filler for LBJ. I'd imagine the Lakers would want their '29 FRP back so there probably is some negotiation going on there. I don't think it's completely impossible that Knecht is coming back as part of the '29 pick being returned, but you're not getting LeBron and Knecht for Gafford and PJ Washington. That's off the table.

FWIW, I think the LeBron-to-Dallas trade was substantially less likely to happen when they signed DeAndre Ayton.

[JayMKE]

LeBron dictates where he wants to go, it’s more a question of if his chosen destination can facilitate a trade or not rather than value.

[JHFVF07]

In 22 years of career Lebron never was traded, never asked to be traded. He wont start now. He can complain, whine, keep his passive agressive posture, but he wont tarnish his image refusing to play. Lakers can send him to a destination he wants, but they will want good value.

[ACMFFL]

KD is definitely more valuable than LBJ imho, he's 3 years and half younger and teams are still willing to offer him supermax money, that's not LBJ case anymore. And I have PJ+Gaff>#10. If PJ is included, LAL have to give up Knecht at very least.

Ofc LAL have to agree but so does Dallas, and it makes zero sense to renounce all the depth and improve a conference rival for 1 year of LBJ. It's not our business to bail LAL out when they need it the most, only MIA could make an offer for him, can't see any other team gutting the roster for 1 year of LeBron.

I definitely do NOT have PJ and Gafford as more valuable than the 10th pick. Maybe a win-now team might do that, but I'd venture a guess that the majority of teams would prefer the upside of the pick as opposed to the two Mavs' role players. I'm not sure what the deal is with the board, but role players are vastly overvalued.

For the Lakers, they're clearly better off with LBJ than they are without him. Even at 40 years old, he along with Luka Doncic make the Lakers title contenders. Not favorites, but they could win a title together. But with the Lakers starting to shift their focus towards their post-LeBron era with Luka, they're not going to make short-sighted moves to appease LeBron. That being said, he's a $50M+ expiring contract so at the very least they'll eat the salary (spoiler alert, they won't!) so they're not taking back unnecessary money if they don't have to. That being said, the Lakers/Mavericks deal is pretty straightforward. It's Gafford/PJ/salary filler for LBJ. I'd imagine the Lakers would want their '29 FRP back so there probably is some negotiation going on there. I don't think it's completely impossible that Knecht is coming back as part of the '29 pick being returned, but you're not getting LeBron and Knecht for Gafford and PJ Washington. That's off the table.

FWIW, I think the LeBron-to-Dallas trade was substantially less likely to happen when they signed DeAndre Ayton.

I have Gaff worth 1 late 1st and expiring PJ a mid 1st in the range of #15/#16. Ofc only win-now teams would value them, but I guess most of these franchises would rather have proven quality role players.

Cool, then you can just keep him or eat his salary, those are my favorite options too, Mavs have less than zero reason to bid against themselves, no team is gonna offer more than that except maybe for Miami (and I doubt LBJ would be interested), noone is willing to gut the roster to match his salary, that's the point. If PJ is included, ofc Mavs have to ask for Knecht without adding any pick, they need cheap cost controlled player to fill the roster.
Also LBJ has a NTC, so if he asks out, he'll pretty much dictate his next destination and I don't see why he would want to join a depleted team if his goal is to compete.
But all of that is pointless, Mavs would be interested if and only if he's bought out.

[GatherStepGuru]

I also don’t see Lebron taking a minimum just to chase a ring. This is a top 3 all-time player. If only out of respect to him and/or his ego, I don’t see it. Maybe a paycut like Tom Brady.. But he’s putting up 25-5-5 and 41. Someone is going to have to put respect on his name to get him, whether it’s MIA, NY, CLE, or another place.

[Karmaloop]

I have Gaff worth 1 late 1st and expiring PJ a mid 1st in the range of #15/#16. Ofc only win-now teams would value them, but I guess most of these franchises would rather have proven quality role players.

Cool, then you can just keep him or eat his salary, those are my favorite options too, Mavs have less than zero reason to bid against themselves, no team is gonna offer more than that except maybe for Miami (and I doubt LBJ would be interested), noone is willing to gut the roster to match his salary, that's the point. If PJ is included, ofc Mavs have to ask for Knecht without adding any pick, they need cheap cost controlled player to fill the roster.
Also LBJ has a NTC, so if he asks out, he'll pretty much dictate his next destination and I don't see why he would want to join a depleted team if his goal is to compete.

Not sure I agree with your evaluations at all. Gafford was traded to Dallas for Richaun Holmes (and the dead money associated with him) along with a late FRP from the Clippers. The Mavericks were dumping Holmes moreso than acquiring Gafford because he was anything notable. 2.5 years later and a 3 year extension hasn't changed his value. He's worth a late FRP if you're taking back some useless dead money. The Lakers really don't have any interest/need in PJ Washington, so if there's a 3rd team that can send expiring contracts to LA plus provide more value than it isn't dead.

I'm more than content letting LeBron play out his final year in LA. Remember, leverage goes to the team most content with status quo and that's the Lakers. Remember, it's not the Lakers' responsibility to fill out the Mavs' roster with cheap, cost-controlled players. That's the Mavericks job. The Lakers are giving up the best player in the deal (by far) and getting back a couple of solid albeit not elite role players.

[Mavrelous]

I have Gaff worth 1 late 1st and expiring PJ a mid 1st in the range of #15/#16. Ofc only win-now teams would value them, but I guess most of these franchises would rather have proven quality role players.

Cool, then you can just keep him or eat his salary, those are my favorite options too, Mavs have less than zero reason to bid against themselves, no team is gonna offer more than that except maybe for Miami (and I doubt LBJ would be interested), noone is willing to gut the roster to match his salary, that's the point. If PJ is included, ofc Mavs have to ask for Knecht without adding any pick, they need cheap cost controlled player to fill the roster.
Also LBJ has a NTC, so if he asks out, he'll pretty much dictate his next destination and I don't see why he would want to join a depleted team if his goal is to compete.

Not sure I agree with your evaluations at all. Gafford was traded to Dallas for Richaun Holmes (and the dead money associated with him) along with a late FRP from the Clippers. The Mavericks were dumping Holmes moreso than acquiring Gafford because he was anything notable. 2.5 years later and a 3 year extension hasn't changed his value. He's worth a late FRP if you're taking back some useless dead money. The Lakers really don't have any interest/need in PJ Washington, so if there's a 3rd team that can send expiring contracts to LA plus provide more value than it isn't dead.

I'm more than content letting LeBron play out his final year in LA. Remember, leverage goes to the team most content with status quo and that's the Lakers. Remember, it's not the Lakers' responsibility to fill out the Mavs' roster with cheap, cost-controlled players. That's the Mavericks job. The Lakers are giving up the best player in the deal (by far) and getting back a couple of solid albeit not elite role players.

None of this is true.
Mavs targeted Gafford, Holmes was the matching salary, they paid unprotected swap, after that, Gafford proved a great backup center.
Lakers need PJ, he is the ideal PF next to Luka, even better than DFS, he can defend big wing, rebound, help protect the rim, Lakers have no one like him.
A deal based on Gafford/PJ for LeBron is a no brainer for LA.