The Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks put on a show in an afternoon clash that saw the Lakers overturn a 27-point deficit to win the game in Dallas.
This was the first encounter between LeBron James and Kyrie Irving since Irving’s trade to Dallas. LeBron sent a message to his former teammate with a vicious chase-down block when Irving went up for a layup.
Irving’s seen that block before, but back when it was a championship-winning play in 2016 with James pulling this off on Andre Iguodala. However, this one was pretty great too.
LEBRON WITH THE CHASEDOWN BLOCK ON KYRIE 😳 pic.twitter.com/Ui11Ur8BsV
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 26, 2023
Given the heavy rumors around Kyrie leaving the Mavericks in the offseason to reunite with LeBron, this matchup was extremely interesting. James has openly expressed remorse over the Lakers not trading for Irving when they had the chance and is bound to push to get the All-Star on his team in the summer.
LeBron James’ Recruitment Of Kyrie Irving
After his comments when Irving was traded to the Mavericks, it was made obvious that LeBron has been wanting to play with Irving once again. James drafted Kyrie onto his All-Star team as well, sparking rumors of recruitment from LeBron. The pair embraced after this game and looked like the best of friends.
Kai x Bron 🔥 pic.twitter.com/aabrhOsrBX
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 26, 2023
The Lakers cannot make up enough cap space at the moment to sign Kyrie as a free agent, owing guaranteed money to Jarred Vanderbilt, a cap hold on Rui Hachimura, and a team option for Malik Beasley. Even if Hachimura and Beasley were to be sent packing, the Lakers would need to trade Vando away to have enough outright space to offer Kyrie just under $40 million.
A sign-and-trade may be more likely, as there have been rumors of a swap for Kyrie and Anthony Davis to facilitate the move. It’s going to be an exciting summer to see what happens with Kyrie and if he stays with Dallas, who traded 2 rotational players and a first-round pick to get him.
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