The Los Angeles Lakers are a team that completely rebuilt their roster ahead of the trade deadline this year, and there’s no doubt that they are a much better team. They focused on getting young players that also can contribute immediately, and it has worked out for them thus far.
Despite their relative success after the trade deadline, the Lakers have frequently been linked with a potential move for Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving. However, a recent report from Jovan Buha of The Athletic revealed that the Lakers would have to give up all of their trade deadline acquisitions in order to get Kyrie Irving, which is obviously due to the Lakers’ salary cap situation for 2023-24. He also noted that a move is unlikely to happen.
“Choosing Irving would essentially force the Lakers to punt on their trade deadline additions. To create cap space, they would need to renounce the free-agent rights of Russell and Rui Hachimura, decline a team option on Beasley and waive Vanderbilt and Mo Bamba. (Vanderbilt’s 2023-24 contract is partially guaranteed, while Bamba’s is fully unguaranteed.) The Lakers could technically keep Reaves (due to his $2.1 million cap hold) and/or Vanderbilt (because of his small $4.7 million contract), but that would require persuading Irving to take an even steeper pay cut,” said Buha.
Obviously, acquiring Kyrie Irving is generally a good thing for any team with championship aspirations. However, gutting half of their roster on a veteran and injury-prone team to get him doesn’t seem good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ perspective. However, it is possible that they will end up having a change of heart by the time Irving hits free agency. It is clear that acquiring Kyrie Irving can be a good scenario for the Lakers.
As of right now, Kyrie Irving is averaging 27.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 5.3 APG on the season. There is no doubt that he’s had a stellar year, and it’ll be interesting to see what he does when it comes to free agency.
LeBron James Will Reportedly Return For The Playoffs This Season
LeBron James has been hard at work during his recovery, and it looks as though he might end up coming back before the end of the season. A previous report revealed that he told a Crypto.com arena worker that he’ll be back by the time the playoffs roll around.
The Los Angeles Lakers will need to stay afloat until LeBron James returns, and it’ll be interesting to see if they are able to do so. They do plan to play Anthony Davis in their last back-to-back of the season to try and ensure that they get a playoff position, and we’ll see if they are able to do so.
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