James has made been very public about his goal of one day owning an NBA team. He's even targeted a city: Las Vegas. He's publicly lobbied for control of an expansion franchise in the desert for years, and for years, his odds of getting that team looked very strong. But two things have changed of late, and neither work in his favor.

There is a specific reason LeBron James, Mavericks Carter and Nikola Jokić's agent met recently, and it isn't the type of reason many have assumed.