The Los Angeles Lakers have some flexibility this offseason, including a potential move to reunite both Luka Doncic and LeBron James with their previous No. 2 option on squads that made the NBA Finals.
Austin Reaves can opt out of the last year of his current contract and become a free agent, which most league analysts expect he will do, and command a deal as lucrative as $240-plus million over five years. Meanwhile, James is headed to free agency after the final season of his contract, which paid him $52.6 million, expires this summer.
Doncic has made it clear that he doesn’t want the Lakers to package Reaves, his backcourt partner, in any trade to improve the team — including one for two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, whom the Milwaukee Bucks are actively shopping.
However, there is one player potentially available via trade for whom Doncic might reconsider his position — Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks. Doncic and Irving were the lead duo on the 2024 Mavericks squad that earned a trip to the NBA Finals, which they lost to the Boston Celtics.
Irving also played second-fiddle to James across four consecutive trips to the championship series, including one title win, as co-members of the Cleveland Cavaliers. There is significant turnover happening in Dallas after the Mavericks hired Masai Ujiri to run basketball operations, and there is speculation around the league that Irving could be a trade candidate.
“Several contending teams are keeping a close eye on Kyrie Irving’s situation with the Mavericks as the offseason picks up,” League Alerts wrote on Instagram, citing ESPN’s Shams Charania. “Dallas is expected to draw league-wide trade interest in the nine-time All-Star, who missed all of 2025-26 recovering from a torn ACL.”
Lakers Could Feasibly Execute Sign-and-Trade Deal Involving Austin Reaves, Kyrie Irving
GettyKyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks.
Irving is under contract for the next two years in Dallas, including a player option in 2027-28, at the salary cap figures of $39.5 million and $42.4 million, respectively.
And while Reaves can command up to approximately $48 million annually in free agency, projections indicate that his likely deal will pay him around $40 million per season. Such a contract signed with the Lakers would allow Los Angeles to ink Reaves to an extension and move him to Dallas in exchange for Irving with relative ease.
Pairing Irving and Doncic would allow the Lakers to recreate the starting backcourt of the last team to best the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs, which occurred in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs in 2024.
Trio of Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, LeBron James Could Prove Interesting in Western Conference Next Season
GettyLeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.
James remains a wildcard, regardless of whether the Lakers sign Reaves and keep him as Doncic’s backcourt partner or flip him to the Mavericks in return for Irving, which would be a sensible timeline play for Dallas as they build around Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg.
That said, James transitioned successfully to the Lakers’ third offensive option down the stretch of last regular season, which allowed L.A. to win 16 of 18 games during one stretch and changed the narrative around whether it makes sense for Los Angeles to re-sign the four-time MVP heading into his age-42 campaign.
Defense was an issue with Doncic, James and Reaves together on the floor in 2025-26, and that wouldn’t change if the team substituted Reaves for Irving. But despite Irving playing most of next season at 34 years old, it is difficult to argue that the Lakers wouldn’t be more dangerous with him on the roster serving in Reaves’ current role.
Los Angeles must consider the future with Doncic in the context of the juggernaut rosters that the Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, currently battling in the Western Conference Finals, have assembled.
However, bringing back James on an affordable one-year deal and signing Reaves, then trading him for Irving with two seasons left on his contract, might position the Lakers as more competitive in 2026-27 and 2027-28, while still allowing for flexibility beyond those campaigns to build an ideal roster around Doncic.
Lakers Trade Pitch Flips Reaves, Reunites Doncic and James With NBA Finals Co-Star