Lakers News: LA Insider Believes Team Will No Longer Pursue Kyrie Irving
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A reunion of Cleveland Cavaliers All-Stars may not be on the table for your Los Angeles Lakers this summer, after all.
Though the Lakers appeared at least amenable to considering signing Dallas Mavericks All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, a 2023 unrestricted free agent, this summer, it seems that they may not want the embattled vet aboard, after all.
On the latest episode of The HoopsHype Podcast, HoopsHype's Michael Scotto spoke with The Athletic's beat reporter, Jovan Buha, about the Lakers' plans regarding Irving's forthcoming free agency.
"As I reported around the trade deadline, they were interested in Kyrie and made what they felt was a competitive offer," Buha said. "When it got to the point that Brooklyn was basically asking for every tradable asset, they felt it was too much, given all the uncertainty that comes with Kyrie and the way things have played out the last few years."
"From what I’ve been told by my sources around the organization, they wanted to run this situation (current roster) back. It’s looked good so far. They’ve won a lot of games. They’ve done a lot of winning without LeBron James. That’s something that’s kind of been under-discussed. The non-LeBron minutes were always an issue for the Lakers going back to his first year in LA and the championship season… This is my third season on the beat, and this is the best chemistry and vibes I’ve seen around the team."
"From what I’ve been told, they’re not going to be pursuing Kyrie Irving this offseason… To my knowledge and to what I’ve been told, the Kyrie ship, I think, has sailed. You never want to say never. That could easily change, but as of right now, their plan is to run this (team) back."
Since the trade deadline, this incarnation of the Lakers has looked terrific, and that's even without James for most of its contests, and both Davis and James for a few of them, too. Los Angeles has gone an encouraging 9-6 since the trade deadline, with James out of the lineup for the last nine of those contests due to a right tendon injury. The team's first loss since acquiring D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley and Mo Bamba (okay, and Davon Reed on a flyer) happened on February, the trade deadline, before those new Lakers had been cleared to play, so we can also exclude it from the defeat tally.
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