Mavericks surprisingly named landing spot for $101 million Lakers star, four-time NBA champion

Mavericks surprisingly named landing spot for $101 million Lakers star, four-time NBA champion originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Dallas Mavericks aren’t in a position to compete for a championship right now, which is far from a disappointing situation. 

The 2011 NBA champions are in good shape with Cooper Flagg emerging as a do-it-all rising star forward capable of succeeding as the franchise’s cornerstone. The Duke product averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game in Year 1. 

Surprisingly, there appears to be a chance that the Mavericks could accelerate their rebuild (at least temporarily) by pairing Flagg with  Los Angeles Lakers star and four-time NBA champion LeBron James. Essentially, during a recent episode of the Game Over podcast, James’ agent, Rich Paul, laid out a list of potential suitors for his future Hall of Fame client. 

The Mavericks made the cut, prompting many to imagine what a potential James-Flagg pairing could entail. It’s challenging to see the appeal for James, though, as it wouldn’t make much sense for the 22-time All-Star to spend his last season or two with an organization that doesn’t have the pieces necessary to give him the best possible chance to end his career with a championship. 

Could the idea of reuniting with his former Cleveland Cavaliers NBA champion teammate, Kyrie Irving, change his mind? It may make the idea of taking his talents to Dallas a bit more tempting, but it’s a highly unlikely scenario regardless.

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