Could the Lakers have sign and traded for LeBron James in 2010?

[MJST]

Just thought this would be something interesting to revisit. Just for fun by the way, not trying to start a flame war, but it is an interesting 'what if' scenario. This also isn't a place to vent hatred for LeBron X_X

In the Summer of 2010 where the Miami Heat wound up getting LeBron James to join them after signing Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh as well as LeBron James in one of the bigger summers in recent memory.


But some people oft forget that LeBron was signed and traded to Miami, this was the package the Cavaliers gave up.

1) Two first-round picks, that must be used starting in 2013 and ending by 2017
2) 2012 second-round pick Miami received from New Orleans
3) Future second-round pick Heat acquired from Oklahoma City
4) Cleveland can also swap first round picks with the Heat in 2012
5) A large trade exception($15 million or so) that the Cavs must use in trades for one calendar year.


So essentially a big trade exception as well as a bunch of picks.

One of the teams that were tremendously good at that time but weren't looking to make any changes was the Los Angeles Lakers, particularly after they had come off a championship season for their 2nd straight.

But my question is, had they decided to pursue LeBron, could they have put together a better package than what Miami gave up for him?

The Lakers 2010=2011 Roster

Kobe Bryant
Pau Gasol
Andrew Bynum
Ron Artest
Steve Blake
Derek Fisher
Sasha Vujacic
Lamar Odom
Matt Barnes
Luke Walton
Shannon Brown
Derrick Caracter
Devin Ebanks
Theo Ratliff

Picks:
2011: 1 1st round Pick, 4 2nd Round Picks(w/ One from the Knicks, The Other from Miami)
2012: 1 1st Round Pick, 2 2nd Round Picks
2013: 2 1st Round Picks, 2 2nd Round Picks
2014: 2 1st Round Picks, 1 2nd Round Pick
2015: 1 1st Round Pick, 1 2nd Round Pick



My question is could the Lakers have put together a better deal than what the Cavs got an in essence signed LeBron James?

For Example:
Lamar Odom
Andrew Bynum
Sasha Vujacic
Devin Ebanks
and a few of our 1st and 2nd round Picks.


Being that Dan Gilbert always had his eye on Bynum, and he for all intents and purposes looked like our future, Lamar was showing himself to be pretty valuable and along with the multitude of picks we had as well as what "looked" like a sleeper in Ebanks as well as a Sasha who was coming off a season he scored 10 points off the bench at 37% shooting from three.

In laymens terms.. had the Lakers decided to pursue LeBron, do you think that deal ultimately would have looked better for the Cavs than the one they wound up getting? It would have freed up the cap space to do it that's for sure.

If this deal happens our team would have gone forward with

Derek Fisher
Kobe Bryant
LeBron James
Pau Gasol

in our starting lineup

and

Ron probably coming off the bench.


We'd have had to fill in the rest of any kind of depth that off-season.

In the free agency at point guard you also had Shaun Livingston available, along with Steve Blake which is who we wound up getting.

Re-signing Shannon Brown is probably still happening.

Dorrell Wright is still out there and he wound up signing for around 3.5 mill a season. We could have landed him.

Kyle Korver was also available. So was T-Mac but people considered him done.

At Power Forward we'd need a new starter. Note we 'could' have started Ron at the 4 with LeBron at the 3. But the available 4s available were.

Hakim Warrick and Steve Novak basically, so it'd been bench fodder, as we'd likely have had to have traded Odom to take LeBron off their shoulders. Now if we DIDN'T have to lose Odom he'd be here as backup 4. Channing Frye is also an option.


Oh and Phil would still be our coach.


So given those free agency signings, I'll just go with a few (in this scenario we kept Lamar but lost everyone else above I mentioned in the trade)

our roster becomes

Derek Fisher
Kobe Bryant
LeBron James
Ron Artest
Pau Gasol

Bench:
Steve Blake
Shannon Brown
Dorrell Wright
Lamar Odom
Channing Frye

Coach: Phil Jackson



What's the result that season? And could the Lakers have put together that kind of package to have landed LeBron James, and had they, would they have won a championship with the above roster and Phil coaching it.

Keep in mind: If Lamar and Pau are still on the team, they can still be traded in 2011 in the Chris Paul deal. BUT ... we won't go that far into it. We'll stick to this.

Could the Lakers have put together this kind of package and landed LeBron had they attempted to that off-season?

[Runway8]

Lebron gets what he wants. His buddies were Wade and Bosh, not Kobe. They all planned Miami, and the Cavs had NO SAY. It was simply a matter of "lets at least get something out of this..." Miami didn't need a trade.

[mhan00]

Lebron wouldn't have agreed. It was a sign and trade. Nothing happens unless he agrees to be sign and traded to the Lakers, and he would not have.

[activeverb]

[Bard207]

[Mike@LG]

No.
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I am not an economic advisor nor do I advise economic strategies or plans.

[CandyCanes]

Yes, but unfortunately we have the dumbest GM in the league.
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Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:

[jonnybravo]

It takes 3 parties to get a sign and trade to happen. Zero chance Lebron would have agreed to come here in lieu of going to Miami to play with his BFF's.

[Drifts]

was it even possible? anyways, we should have tried.
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"Now, if life is coffee, then the jobs, money & position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold & contain life, but the quality of life doesn't change. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it."

[MJST]

[LarryCoon]

At the time (previous CBA) a player could get the same deal in a sign-and-trade as he could by re-signing with his home team. Bron, Bosh, Wade and the Heat worked out the big-three signing first (which required Bron to take about $1.5M less than the max), and THEN they approached the Cavs to do a S&T, so Bron would get a bigger contract, in exchange for which the Cavs would get some assets in return. No other team had a shot at this.

Also note that in the current CBA the S&T rules were made tighter. In the current CBA a player can only get what he would get by signing with the new team directly, so the incentive to strike a deal with the home team is greatly reduced.

[Bard207]

[activeverb]

[hoopschick29]

Short answer: No.

Long Answer: No and why are we digging up dead carcasses again?
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So glad we gave you your flowers while you were here, Kobe.