Lakers News: Front Office Expert Believes Kyrie Irving Still Considering LA
It has been close to a month since All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving forced the Brooklyn Nets to trade him away from the team. He ultimately landed with the Dallas Mavericks, to occupy a high-scoring backcourt alongside Luka Doncic. Although the trade has been solidified for the season, former NBA executive John Hollinger foreshadows some friction may arise in Dallas this offseason.
Following the trade deadline, it was revealed that the guard’s preferred destination was your Los Angeles Lakers. In a recent article, Hollinger expressed that Irving could still be eyeing the Lakers.
“Keep an eye on this situation,” Hollinger wrote. “Between Irving’s wandering eye for L.A. this summer, the potential of Luka Doncic’s frustration boiling over and [Jason] Kidd’s history of things ending badly when they end, this could get a lot worse before it gets better.”
The Mavericks improved to 33-31 on the year after their 133-126 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday. Although the duo had a dominant night, combining for 82 points, the pair has seen little success prior to Thursday night. Before the victory over the 76ers, the Mavs were 1-4 in games where Doncic and Irving played together.
The team has struggled defensively and will have to fight against a Western conference stacked full of superstars this season.
If things don’t pan out as well as Irving may anticipate, he could very well decide to leave this summer as an unrestricted free agent. If this were to happen, the Lakers would likely be in the mix once again to try and acquire the 30-year-old.
Since the Lakers recently made a splash at the trade deadline, picking up D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Mo Bamba, and Rui Hachimura, they would have to move more pieces to make room for Irving.
Dallas has already gone all in for the All-Star guard and losing him would be the last thing the franchise would want. Because Irving has unexpectedly dropped trade news on teams before, he certainly won’t be afraid to do it again– nothing is off the table.
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