Kobe Bryant for LeBron James: It would've been the trade of the century, an absolute steal and slam dunk. For the Cavaliers.
Yes, the Lakers made that phone call to Cleveland, catering to a disgruntled Bryant, who was a superstar demanding changes on a mediocre team, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst.
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The Lakers were coming off a 42-40 season, having lost to the Suns in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs for a second consecutive year behind the 28-year-old Bryant, who averaged 31.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game.
The 22-year-old James had just led the 50-32 Cavaliers to an unlikely run to the NBA Finals, where they were swept by the Spurs. James averaged 27.3 points, 6.7 assists and 6.0 rebounds, and Cleveland, believing it was at the door of a LeBron-led dynasty, told the Lakers, "uh, no."
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In hindsight, the Cavaliers should've pulled the trigger.
That summer, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen teamed up with Paul Pierce in Boston to make the rest of James' first stay in Cleveland a living hell. Then, he left Cleveland in 2011 to form his own supergroup with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in Miami, where that team went to four consecutive NBA Finals and won back-to-back titles in 2012-13.
But the Cavaliers might've been able to coax Lamar Odom in his prime over to the Cavs as well, giving them a greater sum than the individual in James. That would've given Cleveland a fighting chance against the Celtics, needing just one more star to contend with Boston's big three.
And Kobe would've been on Cavs management to find that player to put the team on equal footing with the Celtics.
The Lakers, meanwhile, likely would've stocked talent around James -- they picked up Pau Gasol midway through the 2007-08 season and probably could've made more moves as they were reestablishing themselves as the preeminent team in the West.
James could've won the 2009-10 titles with the Lakers that ended up going to Kobe, and he could've returned to the Cavaliers that much sooner. Now in 2015-16, with the rise of the Warriors and rebirth of the Spurs, James and the Cavs appear to be in the NBA title conversation only because someone has to come out of the East.
But they likely won't have much of a chance against either the Warriors or Spurs. Cleveland is only the third best team in the league, and its Finals appearance last year showed James needs help.
It's conceivable both franchises could've won titles had the trade been made. Bryant said he would've nixed the trade, but if Cleveland could've shown him a way to get past the Celtics, he may have had a change of heart.
Instead, Kobe lead the Lakers to three straight Finals appearances, winning the latter two. The Cavaliers lost James at the beginning of the peak of his career, and though they returned to the Finals last season without him, their window of opportunity for a title may be gone without ever getting one with LeBron.
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