The NBA is a league packed with stories. From the narratives being told on the court to those swirling around rumors and team-building, the story of the league this season is made up of hundreds of smaller tales all woven together into the beautiful tapestry that is the greatest sports league on the planet.
To name a few of the biggest stories of this season to need to look at the greatest player to ever lace up his sneakers, LeBron James. He is playing at an All-NBA level despite being 39 years old, defying Father Time in a way no player has ever done before. Yet his team is disappointing like few LeBron James teams have ever done before.
Looking into LeBron's past to his former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a massive storyline of their own brewing around star guard Donovan Mitchell. His ability to hit free agency is now just 18 months away, putting pressure on this upcoming season for the Cavs and Mitchell to agree to an extension. That, in turn, has many speculating as to whether the Cavaliers should trade Mitchell now to get the best return.
NBA media personality Bill Simmons decided to take all of those storylines and mash them together. In a recent podcast, Simmons cracked open the lid on something that seemed unthinkable: could LeBron James ask for a trade out of Los Angeles?
Could LeBron James be traded?
If it became clear that the Los Angeles Lakers were not going to compete for a championship this season, LeBron could look at the sands remaining in his hourglass and conclude he needed to change teams one last time in order to chase title number five.
Would Cleveland make sense as such a destination? Let's look at the deal proposed on Simmons' podcast to see if it makes sense for LeBron, for the Lakers, and for the Cavaliers.
What would the trade look like?
Bill Simmons brought on longtime NBA reporter Howard Beck in a recent podcast to discuss the state of the league and the Lakers. Beck covered the Lakers for most of the "Shaq and Kobe" era and knows the team well, so he was a logical choice. As the two broke down the current state of things, they strayed into surprising territory: would LeBron James want a trade, and where could he go?
The two assumed that LeBron would want to go to a contender, so the list of potential suitors was narrowed. As they walked through the options, Beck shared one outlandish idea: what if LeBron returned to his former team one last time, coming home to Cleveland?
His proposal would solve the Cavs' Donovan Mitchell problem, give LeBron a fresh start once again, and give the Lakers a player to pair around Anthony Davis. Here is the trade he proposed:
Let's discuss the Lakers' side of things first. Their chances of competing for a title go from negligible to nil if they move on from LeBron, but this is a trade that sets them up with a younger star for the years ahead. Few stars get to Los Angeles and don't want to stick around, and being the next great guard for the Lakers is a mantle waiting to be worn.
Mitchell and Davis would run a nasty pick-and-roll game, and Caris LeVert could either start alongside Mitchell in the backcourt or run the second unit with Austin Reaves starting. Moving off of a 39-year-old player for a 27-year-old All-NBA guard is a nice long-term play. Assuming LeBron is open to a trade, this is a deal the Lakers would be happy to make.
What about the Cavaliers? Do they make this deal?
Grade the Trade: Could Cavaliers make this deal?
LeBron James is arguably the greatest player in the history of basketball; he is inarguably the greatest athlete in Ohio sports history, and he has a reasonable case weighed against a handful of US Presidents as the most influential and famous person in the history of the state. He is beloved in his hometown; shoot, our website is named after him. His return would be welcomed by fans.
The problem is that this trade makes absolutely no sense for the Cavaliers. They are building something special with their young core of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Donovan Mitchell. Whether or not Mitchell sticks around, this is a group that should continue to grow together and look to contend for years to come.
Trading for a 39-year-old, for all that he seems immune to the effects of aging, is a short-term grab at a title that would almost certainly still be out-of-reach. Then, once LeBron either retires or opts out of his contract, they would be left with absolutely nothing for the star guard they traded the farm for just over a year ago. LeBron will certainly be retired well before the Cavaliers finish paying out the draft picks the Utah Jazz now own.
The on-court fit is somewhat awkward as well. LeBron James is not a small forward anymore and thrives with spacing around him. Placing Darius Garland and Max Strus in the backcourt would make sense, but Mobley and Allen would constrict the spacing on the court and give LeBron no room to operate inside. This is not a team that would be winning a championship this season.
If LeBron James wants to opt out of his lucrative final season and sign on a bargain deal in Cleveland, the Cavaliers would certainly welcome that. Perhaps if the Lakers asked for a deal built around Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen the Cavs would consider it. But this deal is not a short-term solution and it's a long-term disaster.
Grade: D