{"id":159276,"date":"2025-07-09T22:25:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T22:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/159276\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T22:25:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T22:25:10","slug":"nba-writer-believes-mavericks-will-face-competition-from-nuggets-for-lakers-lebron-james-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/159276\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA writer believes Mavericks will face competition from Nuggets for Lakers\u2019 LeBron James"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Dallas Mavericks have been linked to LeBron James this summer \u2014 if the Los Angeles Lakers are willing to part with the veteran superstar.<\/p>\n<p>James and the Lakers could reportedly explore a trade or buyout if he feels the team isn&#8217;t built to contend for an NBA championship in what might be his final season. While the Lakers remain focused on winning now, they\u2019re also preparing for a post-LeBron future with Luka Doncic. Doncic\u2019s former team, the Mavericks, have surfaced in trade rumors for James, though the Nuggets could also attempt to acquire the four-time MVP&#8217;s services.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/25224040-realistic-lebron-james-and-giannis-trades-can-still-happen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Dan Favale of Bleacher Report;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Dan Favale of Bleacher Report<\/a> recently proposed a mock trade that would pair James with three-time MVP Nikola Jokic in the 2025-26 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s Favale\u2019s proposed trade:<\/p>\n<p>Nuggets receive: LeBron James, Bronny James<\/p>\n<p>Lakers receive: DaRon Holmes II, Jamal Murray, Peyton Watson, 2028 first-round pick swap<\/p>\n<p>MORE:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/us\/nba\/new-york-knicks\/news\/knicks-lakers-swap-stars-mock-trade-lebron-james\/19e3ab02b62a40773abef89e\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Knicks, Lakers swap stars in mock trade for LeBron James;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Knicks, Lakers swap stars in mock trade for LeBron James<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Nuggets added several pieces this summer, including Cameron Johnson, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bruce Brown. While a deal to reunite James with former teammates Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis in Dallas might seem more likely, the Nuggets could present a compelling offer for the 40-year-old forward while remaining competitive.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>However, the Mavericks could likely offer a stronger package while preserving more depth. Dallas has tradable assets and frontcourt depth they could move, whereas trading Murray would deal a major blow to the Nuggets\u2019 title hopes and long-term outlook.<\/p>\n<p>It remains unclear whether James will finish his legendary career with the Lakers, but if he chooses to move on, both Western Conference contenders could be in the mix.<\/p>\n<p>MORE NBA NEWS:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Mavericks have been linked to LeBron James this summer \u2014 if the Los Angeles Lakers are&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3790],"tags":[495,7,1006,6850,2726,149,2731,762,304,967,4034,1698,300,4044,185,251,150,4033,4043,368,6,253,302,1146,490,1415,911],"class_list":{"0":"post-159276","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-lakers","8":"tag-anthony-davis","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-bronny-james","11":"tag-bruce-brown","12":"tag-cameron-johnson","13":"tag-dallas-mavericks","14":"tag-daron-holmes-ii","15":"tag-jamal-murray","16":"tag-knicks","17":"tag-kyrie-irving","18":"tag-la","19":"tag-la-lakers","20":"tag-lakers","21":"tag-lalakers","22":"tag-lebron-james","23":"tag-los-angeles","24":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","25":"tag-losangeles","26":"tag-losangeleslakers","27":"tag-luka-doncic","28":"tag-nba","29":"tag-nikola-jokic","30":"tag-nuggets","31":"tag-peyton-watson","32":"tag-the-mavericks","33":"tag-the-nuggets","34":"tag-tim-hardaway-jr"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114825627524233487","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}