If Lakers call it quits, should the Cavs trade for LeBron?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are a significantly better team than the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s not even close. Even after losing five straight games, the Cavs are clearly a top team in the Eastern Conference. The Lakers are one of the three worst teams in the entire league at just 3-10.

LeBron James is playing well, averaging 25 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, but he can’t drag an ill-fitting roster by himself anymore and his defense is clearly lapsing. He takes more 3-pointers than ever before now, lacking the energy or burst to attack the rim. With the Lakers fitting poorly around him, James and Anthony Davis are largely carrying them.

The Los Angeles Lakers are falling apart. If they call it quits, should the Cavs pick up the phone about a trade for LeBron James?

At some point, the Lakers have to acknowledge this isn’t working. Perhaps that leads them to trade their two remaining assets, first-round picks in 2027 and 2029, to flip Russell Westbrook for a couple of useful veterans, such as the oft-discussed Buddy Hield and Myles Turner in Indiana. Perhaps they double down on the living legend despite his age and send out Anthony Davis.

Or perhaps they recognize that they are too broken to compete while the 37-year-old LeBron is still an elite player, and they decide to trade him and retool around the younger Davis. That seems farfetched, but is it that different than the aging Celtics trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, or the Phoenix Suns doing the same for Steve Nash?

If such a move were to happen, should the Cavs pick up the phone? James has dropped plenty of bread crumbs about returning home to The Land; would this be the way to bring him back for a third time? Let’s look at why both sides and why they might, or might not, do this deal.