West Notes: Mavs, LeBron James, Jazz, Rockets

Mavericks

It seems highly unlikely that Lakers star forward LeBron James would ever join the Mavericks, but it probably can’t be entirely ruled out either, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggested in an interview with Fanatics View. 

Windhorst was first asked about the backcourt pairing of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

“I think they’re incredibly talented and dominating,” he said. “I think the Mavericks are probably a year away. They need another transaction cycle to build up the guys around them. You just hope that they get that opportunity.”

Then Windhorst was asked if he could see a scenario where James joined Doncic and Irving in Dallas.

“I don’t think he wants to leave L.A., I think that’s pretty clear,” he said. “I do think he has a great respect for Luka and he has appreciated him for a long time, not that that’s surprising. So I would not rule anything out. But, LeBron has not shown a lot of interest in leaving L.A. and Luka is obviously committed here for a long time.”

You can check out the full interview at the very bottom of this post.

Jazz

• The Jazz may best served to “pack it in,” and start looking toward the NBA Draft and lottery, wrote Gordon Monson of the Salt Lake Tribune.
• In case you missed it, guard Collin Sexton is expected to miss another week with a hamstring issue. We have that full post here.

Rockets

For the Rockets, the season can’t end soon enough, wrote Zach Harper of The Athletic.

“The Rockets are on pace for 19 victories this season, which is way under their preseason over/under mark,” Harper wrote in the latest power rankings. “This team is entirely unserious about how it approaches games as a collective unit. Second-worst defense. Third-worst offense. Nobody seems to enjoy this experience. There isn’t a chance the Rockets have nine more wins in the next 18 games. I don’t think they’d have nine if they had 48 more games, although the Spurs out-tanking them this week certainly helped.”