LeBron James to Mavericks rumor, explained: NBA ‘insiders’ behind viral tweets about Lakers star

The supposed trade saga surrounding Lakers superstar LeBron James is starting to spiral out of control, with many on social media now falsely claiming a move to the Dallas Mavericks is imminent despite no real traction.

James opted into his 2025-26 player option with the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this month. Since then, most of the talk about James has been about him playing anywhere but Los Angeles next season.

As is the case in an era of social media misinformation, phony ‘insider’ tweets on X suggesting that James will land with the Dallas Mavericks are going viral. 

“I’m in Vegas right now, I just spoke with an agent and something big is happening with the Mavericks. Trade incoming. WOW,” X user SMHighlights1 claimed. So far, the tweet has accrued over 620,000 views. The same user later doubled down on his unfounded statement, tweeting “A DEAL IS COMING WITHIN 48 HOURS, STAY TUNED!!”

User ScottJBerges, who claims to be an insider, tweeted “Mavericks & Cavaliers have agreed to a trade that will break soon. That’s what I’ve been told here at Summer League,” the unverified report has garnered over 48,000 views on X. 

Once more, X user winigoat7 shared two tweets of unverified screenshots of a text chain suggesting that James will be traded to the Mavericks for Klay Thompson, PJ Washington, Kyle Anderson, and a 2029 first-round pick. These tweets have attracted over 5.7 million views on X.

Of course, none of these have been verified as real reports and should not be treated as such.

While there is no merit behind any report suggesting that James is headed to Dallas, it could be fun to think about the idea of having a big four consisting of James, Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and Cooper Flagg just months after trading away franchise icon Luka Doncic. But for now, nothing has happened, and LeBron James remains a Los Angeles Laker.