LeBron James empowered his agent Rich Paul to meet with several teams to Klutch’s offices in Cleveland for free-agent presentations without him present.

Those meetings were leaked to the public and the perception was that they were conducted to garner attention to their agency.

The Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks met with Paul, in addition to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“Just used as props to get attention and publicize their business,” one league executive told Yahoo Sports. “Maybe that’s smart to some people, but you have to deal with the same people again and again in this league. Those things can come back on you eventually.”

The Dallas Mavericks would be open to signing Ray Allen or Rashard Lewis later in the regular season should either player be interested in a deal.

Both Allen and Lewis have been working out, and Lewis has worked out in Dallas sometimes.

"We haven’t talked to him, but I think he’s doing it the right way,” Mark Cuban said of Allen. “He’s waiting to see who’s doing well. If it comes down to it, we’d always consider it. We’re always open to improving the team. But you don’t want to mess up a good thing, either. That’s when Caron got hurt and Roddy got hurt. But Peja is a good example.

“Rashard Lewis is working out here. We’ve stayed in touch with him and worked with him.”

The New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks and possibly Charlotte Hornets are all teams that could be interested in Kobe Bryant, according to ESPN's Chad Ford.

The Los Angeles Lakers lost Julius Randle for the entire season on opening night and are expected to struggle to make the playoffs. The Lakers also get to keep their 2015 first round pick if it is in the top-5.

The Knicks are an especially interesting possibility due to his connection to Phil Jackson, Derek Fisher and Carmelo Anthony.

The Knicks could include young players like Iman Shumpert and/or Tim Hardaway Jr., along with a 2015 first rounder and they also have the expiring contracts of Amar'e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani.

"I don't think Mitch has much choice but to find ways to lose," one GM told ESPN. "They're going to be bad anyway. You don't want to be just good enough that you lose the pick and still miss the playoffs. I don't think they have the assets to get good enough to make the playoffs and I don't think they have the [expletive] to trade Kobe. It's paradoxical, but right now losing seems like the only way to really get better."

Bryant's contract expires after the 15-16 NBA season.

The Dallas Mavericks have released Gal Mekel.

The move will create a roster spot for the Mavericks to sign J.J. Barea.

J.J. Barea is finalizing a contract buyout with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, according to sources.

Barea is on course to be bought out as soon as Sunday and Monday at the latest.

Barea is hoping to re-sign with the Dallas Mavericks after clearing waivers. The Mavericks would then have to create a roster spot for him.

The Dallas Mavericks announced Saturday that they have waived Bernard James, Ivan Johnson and Doron Lamb.

The Mavericks' roster stands at 15, with Charlie Villanueva making the regular season roster out of training camp.

Monta Ellis has the ability to opt out of his contract with the Dallas Mavericks after this season, but he has become fond of the organization and discussed a desire to retire with the team.

“It is a business, but at the same time, I’m going to look into everything with my family, sit down with my wife, my kids and we’re going to go from there," Ellis said. "But I’m with the Dallas Mavericks for the next two years and hopefully throughout the rest of my career."

“They love it here," Ellis said when asked how his family is doing in Dallas. "I would love to retire here. My wife loves it. It’s good because she’s trying to go back to law school and get into being a lawyer or whatever. So my life is great on the outside of basketball. I love the city of Dallas. I like how they embraced me. That’s the thing that was with me as well. My first two years at Golden State, the fans embraced me so much that it wanted me to give back to them. That’s why I worked so hard to be the type of player that I was because the fans were 100 percent behind me. And when I came here it was the same way. It got me back to want to give back to them because they give me so much.”

The Dallas Mavericks have requested waivers on forward Eric Griffin and guard Yuki Togashi.

Griffin (6-8, 194) was originally signed on July 18 after representing the Mavericks at the Las Vegas Summer League where he averaged 9.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, 1.3 steals and 19.3 minutes. He saw action in two preseason games for Dallas.

Togashi (5-7, 143) was signed by the Mavericks on Oct. 15 and did not play in a game for Dallas.

The Mavericks roster now stands at 18 players.

In this two-part episode, host Daniel Leroux (@DannyLeroux) and Arturo Galletti of BoxScoreGeeks.com (@ArturoGalletti) go through the over-unders for all 30 NBA teams for the 14-15 season. 

Timestamps for the discussion on each team:

Part One

Click here to listen or download Part 1 

Part Two

Click here to listen or download Part 2. 

You can also click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

The Dallas Mavericks are attempting to trade Gal Mekel and Bernard James due to their need to create a roster spot.

The Mavericks would prefer to keep one or two of their 15 roster spots open entering this upcoming season, the sources said. No trade for either player is currently imminent, a source said.

Mekel averaged 2.4 points and 2.0 assists in 31 games as a rookie with Dallas last season. James has averaged 2.1 points and 2.3 rebounds during the past two seasons with the Mavericks.