LeBron James wanted the band back together. The problem is the drummer isn’t for sale, and the venue already has a different act booked.
League sources told HoopsHype that James, now a 41-year-old free agent after playing out his two-year, $101.35 million Lakers contract, had been angling for the Cleveland Cavaliers to acquire Kyrie Irving — his championship running mate from the 2016 title team — as part of a return to Northeast Ohio. The vision was clean: LeBron comes home, Kyrie comes with him, and the two pick up where they left off a decade ago when they dragged the Cavaliers back from a 3-1 hole against the 73-win Warriors.
Two problems stand in the way, and neither is budging.
First, the Dallas Mavericks have flatly refused to engage on an Irving trade. Marc Stein reported as far back as June 14 that teams calling about Irving were told he is unavailable. Irving, 34, is under contract for two more years on the three-year, $119 million extension he signed with Dallas in 2025. He spent this past season recovering from an ACL tear and is expected to pair with reigning Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg under new head coach Dusty May. The Mavericks built their offseason around that duo. They’re not dismantling it to do anyone a favor.
Second, the Cavaliers don’t want to make room. Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports reported that Cleveland is happy with James Harden, who arrived at last season’s trade deadline and helped drive the franchise to its first Conference Finals appearance since 2018. Harden’s durability and playmaking fit what the Cavaliers already have in Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. Swapping Harden for Irving — who hasn’t played more than 65 games in a season since 2018-19 — would mean trading a proven engine for a brilliant but injury-scarred point guard approaching his mid-thirties.
The popular theory around the league, per Yahoo Sports, has been that James slow-played his free-agency decision to see whether any suitor could land Irving or Anthony Davis, betting that a team capable of reuniting him with a former championship teammate might tip his choice. ESPN’s Shams Charania pushed back on that, reporting that James and his agent Rich Paul “are not waiting for another domino right now” and that the decision will come down to happiness, contention chances, and culture fit. Cleveland, Miami, Golden State, Philadelphia, and Minnesota remain the known suitors.
Irving, for his part, has spoken openly about his Cleveland departure. On a recent Twitch stream, he addressed the 2017 trade request that ended his first stint alongside James. “It’s not that I disliked playing with [James] at any time,” Irving said. “It was just literally my time to move on.” He acknowledged the bad habits he developed on losing Cavs teams before LeBron’s 2014 return and said he simply wanted to grow as a player.
He also posted an Instagram photo of the 2016 championship roster this month — the 10-year anniversary of the title — while several former teammates, including James, Kevin Love, and Iman Shumpert, gathered in the United Kingdom to celebrate. Irving’s caption: “All for one. One for all. WE completed the mission together as brothers, and that’s all that matters to me.”
The sentiment is real. The logistics are something else entirely. You can draw up the prettiest play on the board, but if the other team won’t trade you the pieces, it stays on the whiteboard. The film doesn’t lie.
Sources
- HoopsHype/Yahoo Sports — LeBron James angled for Kyrie Irving return to Cavaliers
- BasketNews — LeBron James-Cavaliers reunion faces Kyrie Irving problem
- SI.com — Kyrie Irving breaks down LeBron James, Cavaliers fallout
- Bleacher Report — Kyrie Irving reflects on Cavs’ 2016 NBA title amid LeBron reunion
- Yardbarker — Analyst pitches LeBron James, Kyrie Irving reunion in Cleveland