The last we heard from Kyrie Irving, he was on Instagram Live telling everybody to stop speaking his name. Now, he’s once again in the news for a highly suspicious trade rumor involving LeBron James. According to sources, Irving has been privately campaigning for the Mavericks to trade for LeBron, who still has one year left on his deal with the Lakers.
The report is coming out of nowhere, and seems highly unlikely despite the circumstances in Dallas. But could there be another motive for this story getting leaked to the press? In a tweet, league insider Justin Russo suggested that this whole thing is just an elaborate play by James and Irving to put pressure on the Lakers to make a move.
Beautiful subterfuge by LeBron and Kyrie to leak this so it puts pressure on the Lakers to bring Kyrie there instead of the other way around.
— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) June 5, 2023
As we know, LeBron James has no desire to leave the Lakers. Despite the team’s underwhelming finish this season, LeBron can still compete with this group for years to come. Of course, we cannot forget that Bronny has already committed to attending USC next season, so it’s hard to see LeBron leaving behind his son for one last ride with Kyrie in Dallas.
In reality, it makes much more sense for LeBron and Kyrie to link up in Los Angeles. With the two of them as Lakers, they’d be a borderline dynasty in the West with Anthony Davis.
Will Kyrie Join The Lakers?
It’s clear by now that there’s something going on with Irving and James. Even if they don’t end up as teammates again, you can bet the Lakers will be in the mix when it’s time for Kyrie to sign a new contract this summer.
“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,” wrote Jovan Buha. “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.”
It remains to be seen what the Lakers will do this offseason, but Kyrie is sure to figure into the equation somehow. Because after losing in a sweep to the Nuggets, only a star of Kyrie’s caliber is going to move the needle for this Lakers team.
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