It isn’t crazy to believe that arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, LeBron James, will get traded in the coming days to Denver of all places in the NBA. James’ greatness isn’t limited just to the NBA since he has replicated his greatness on the international stage by dominating in the Olympics too.
Three gold medals and the Most Valuable Player Award at the 2024 Olympics is more than enough evidence to back this claim.
The world keeps getting crazier by the minute and sports as always being the reflection of society, is picking up the same themes as disciplines are coming up with crazy ideas all in the name of progressing the sport.
In football, Serie A title winning coach Stefano Pioli has suggested introducing basketball-esque rules to ensure that teams can’t pass the ball back once they cross the midfield line in order to provide more entertaining football games.
On July 12, Lightweight boxing star Shakur Stevenson takes on vicious puncher William Zepeda in a must see fight for all boxing lovers but the weekend bout was set to take place in a never before seen shrinking ring.
The concept introduced by boxing bankroller Turki Alalshikh, was brought up primarily to have exciting fights and do away with what the Saudi sports diplomat branded “Tom and Jerry” fights where there is little punch exchanges between fighters.
In such a scenario, as fights progress, the ring would shrink after every couple of rounds to reduce the amount of space boxers who “run” have hence force them to engage more. That suggestion has been shot down for the showdown on Saturday but this seed has been planted and is sure to grow roots into something that could actually happen in the foreseeable future if big boxing bouts continue to under deliver.
Back to basketball and LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on paper, should be right in the mix of title contenders while having Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, LeBron on the roster and recently acquiring center Deandre Ayton.
However, LeBron and his camp believe that the Lakers aren’t contenders and if the words and the tone of those words are anything to go by, a trade to another team is the best outcome for either party. Right out of the gate, the Cleveland Cavaliers are the favourites to land LeBron James.
After a love-hate affair spanning 11 seasons in total and Cleveland’s only NBA title win, it would be simply poetic that the Kid from Akron ends his legendary career at the place where it all started. Trading for James doesn’t look difficult as his $51 million contract could be swapped to the Lakers for Jarrett Allen, Lonzo Ball and draft picks.
Pairing LeBron with Donovan Mitchell and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley with De’Andre Hunter and Max Strus is a group that wins the Eastern Conference. While the trade package for the Lakers lacks star power, it make sense for the team as Allen is a defense-first, athletic big man who pairs well with Ayton who leans more towards offensive production than the defensive side.
Adding Lonzo to the roster gives the Lakers a primary ball handler off the bench once Doncic needs a breather.
For LeBron, this is an excellent situation to be in particularly when a move to the weaker Eastern Conference is also on the table. Despite having the power to veto a trade due to the trade clause in his contract, LeBron and his camp could be swayed towards the east but not further east enough to move him out of the conference altogether and this is where the Denver Nuggets come into the LeBron sweepstakes.
Cleveland can offer Allen and Lonzo but Denver could top that offer by making Jamal Murray and any young player on the Denver roster plus draft picks available for LeBron. Bringing another ball handler and scorer like Murray falls in line with Doncic’s timeline and playing style as the Slovenian has excelled operating alongside a star player as he did with Kyrie Irving at the Dallas Mavericks and with LeBron at the Lakers.
As a soon to be 41 year old, LeBron knows his time in the NBA is coming to an end fast; at best, he has two more seasons left in the tank and should optimize his chances of winning a fifth NBA title as much as he can. Though that is tough to do in the West considering the reigning champions OKC Thunder, improved Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, LA Clippers and Phoenix Suns offer strong competition, teaming up with Nikola Jokic is the best chance for LeBron to win another NBA title.
Beyond Jokic, Denver has improved its roster by adding Bruce Brown, Cam Johnson, Tim Hardaway and potentially Jonas Valanciunas this offseason. Should Valanciunas follow through with his reported desire to move to Greece, the Nuggets would have a $14 million mid-level exception the team could use to sign a savvy, ready to play veteran big man like Al Horford.
The feeling to get LeBron to win a title as soon as possible should be a mutual feeling for Denver as cornerstone Nikola Jokic has turned down the chance to sign a contract extension this offseason rather opting to possibly do so next season.
The move is a great one financially for Jokic as he is in line to sign a mega deal next offseason for $80 million more but more importantly, Jokic’s move is the strongest signal to Nuggets management to win an NBA title as soon as possible.
The Serbian superstar literally was a one man wrecking crew to the point of fatigue who almost led Denver to a series win over OKC Thunder in the playoffs and a little bit of help is needed. Denver have done a great job done in the offseason improving its depth and tertiary contributors via a combination of Aaron Gordon and Cam Johnson, getting a secondary scorer and game closer is needed and none comes better than LeBron James.
LeBron James’ career started out in the small market outpost in Cleveland and ending it in a similarly built outpost sounds just right.
