Lakers News: 2 All-Star Guards With Uncertain Futures Sat Courtside For Game 4
Your Los Angeles Lakers did their darnedest to stave off elimination last night at Crypto.com Arena against the Denver Nuggets, before ultimately falling 113-111 in the game's closing seconds.
With their offseason already somewhat in disarray, the rampant speculation about Los Angeles' future has begun in earnest.
As the NBA itself noticed, not one but two embattled All-Star point guards were in attendance last night, along with Dominic Toretto, the new owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves, George Stone, Tristan Thompson's ex-mother-in-law, one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in history, and others.
Dallas Mavericks All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, who was a teammate with current Lakers LeBron James and Tristan Thompson on several NBA Finals-bound Cleveland Cavaliers teams until 2017, made his second courtside Crypto.com Arena postseason appearance, clearly either trying to spook the Mavericks front office into offering him a major free agent deal by showing his casual interest in Los Angeles or legitimately hoping to be moved to the Lakers.
Two-time All-Star Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young (he didn't make the cut this year) made his first courtside appearance at The Crypt this postseason. Young is under contract until at least the 2025-26 season, after which he has an early termination option on the final year of his deal, which would pay him a whopping $49 million to hog the ball and not play defense. If Los Angeles wanted to make a move for Young, it would need to be a trade, most likely a sign-and-trade package deal for Young's $40.1 million salary in 2023-24 involving several of its own impending free agents.
The Lakers' two incumbent point guards, D'Angelo Russell and Dennis Schröder, will both become unrestricted free agents this July. Schröder started in Game 4 ahead of Russell, after D-Lo's miserable two-way play had made him a perpetual target for the Denver Nuggets through the Western Conference Finals' first three contests. Russell, earning $31.4 million this season, played just 14:56 in LA's closeout game, and seems unlikely to be retained at anywhere close to his current annual fee. Schröder has emerged as an above-average backup and could return if the price is right.
It certainly seems possible that LA will opt to explore a point guard upgrade, be it by signing a pricey star free agent (the team could have between $30-34 million in cap space this summer) like Irving, James Harden or Fred VanVleet, or a trading for a star whose team is itching for a change, like Young or Chris Paul.
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