LeBron James trade proposal involves Bronny James, ex-Vol Dalton Knecht to Mavs, Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington to Lakers

LeBron James trade rumors are all the rage right now. ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel made it clear that there hasn’t been any reason for there to be, though.

Teams have not been checking in on a James trade, per Siegel’s reporting from the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“LeBron opted into his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season, as any sane person having the opportunity to add this kind of money to their bank account would do, and all indications point in the direction of him honoring his commitment to the Lakers. This is also the widespread consensus from rival teams at NBA Summer League, including those who have inquired about James' trade availability in the past,” Siegel wrote.

Despite Siegel’s intel, it’s hard to ignore ESPN’s bombshell report about the “superstar transition” from James to Luka Doncic following the latter’s shocking arrival in Los Angeles this past trade deadline.

BasketNews’s Vukašin Nedeljković didn’t sound overly hyped for the Lakers in the trade scenario he devised that also includes the Dallas Mavericks.

Nedeljković’s deal would send Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington, Caleb Martin, Naji Marshall, and Jaden Hardy to Los Angeles. LeBron would be joined by his son, Bronny James, and former Tennessee Volunteers star Dalton Knecht in Dallas.

“The Mavericks would be giving up a chunk of their depth and flexibility, while the Lakers, in return, wouldn't exactly receive a transformative package that sets them up for the future,” Nedeljković wrote.

This is the kind of deal that’d only happen if James’s camp requested a trade to only the Mavs. It’s not too hard to envision that, though, given Dallas has the highest odds to land James in a trade, Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, two players he’s won titles with, are on the Mavericks’ roster, and Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft, is about to debut.