Especially when that player in February told ESPN that he was “disappointed” in the Lakers’ inability to “land such a talented” player as Irving, who had asked Brooklyn to trade him?the maximum five-year, $272 million contract that he’s eligible to sign with DallasLeBron tells ESPN that he is "disappointed" in Lakers inability to "land such a talented" player.
With a projected salary cap of $134 million next season, a ledger that would pay James $46.9 million and Doncic $40 million and Irving as much as $47 million would make any accountant queasy. The Mavericks’ other path to getting James would be to trade for him and, among other prohibitive facts, his contract has a 15% trade kicker. Even if James tried to force the Lakers’ hand, it’s unlikely they’d want any combination of Dallas’ best assets that don’t include Doncic.the Mavericks’ first-rounder in 2027, Josh Green, Jaden Hardy, Maxi Kleber? Imagine how any package of that sort would go over with Lakers fans.