All this while, it was Kyrie Irving to the Los Angeles Lakers, but now, rumor mills are churning with trade speculation that sending LeBron James to the Dallas Mavericks.
Per Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes: “A new twist has emerged in the LeBron James-Kyrie Irving reunion plot, as league sources have told Bleacher Report Irving wants the Dallas Mavericks to explore trading for LeBron James this offseason to create a Big 3 alongside himself and Luka Doncic.”
There’s no denying that both James and Irving are pretty much in agreement about a reunion. And the former was public about his willingness to play with the mercurial point guard ahead of the trade deadline. Haynes even added that Dallas had made a beeline for James last season when the Lakers were struggling.
The report further added that the new CBA will make the trio’s linkup difficult, and that would mean Irving and Doncic would need to take a significant pay cut to rope in James in the Mavs ranks.
At the other end, James has a year of $46.9 million remaining on his contract, with a $50.6 million player option for the 2024-25 season. While there are reports of him expected to need surgery, the four-time champion is expected to play next season.
NBA Insider Reveals A Route For The Lakers To Land Kyrie Irving
Lakers reporter Jovan Buha of The Athletic outlined the most realistic route for LA to still land Irving on their side, but that would come at a cost for the guard.
“More realistically, Irving would have to take a substantial discount to sign with the Lakers in free agency, something he’s shown no willingness to do yet,” Buha wrote. “To even make that a possibility, Los Angeles must willingly gut its depth to create cap space. In that scenario, the Lakers’ roster would probably be composed of James, Davis, Irving, Austin Reaves, a taxpayer mid-level exception signing, and a bunch of minimum contracts.”
The Mavericks are reportedly not interested in a sign-and-trade, and that makes it clear that the only way Irving makes the Lakers is if they just sign him as a free agent. While they’d have three stars, the familiar situation of lack of depth will hurt them should one of the three go down with injuries at some stage.
It will surely be an interesting summer in Los Angeles.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
