Lakers' Rob Pelinka Preaches Continuity Amid Kyrie Irving Rumors
DALLAS — With the Los Angeles Lakers being handily defeated by the Denver Nuggets in a series sweep in the Western Conference Finals, there is a lot of noise about what lies ahead as far as possible roster moves are concerned.
With 38-year-old LeBron James continuing to have to carry his team, there are concerns about whether he has the stamina to do so. There were clear moments in the Lakers' playoff run down the stretch when he did not. As a result, many have begun speculating if he'll attempt to bring Kyrie Irving to town this summer.
"To be honest, I'm not quite sure what the roster will look like next year," James said. "I think myself, AD, Max Christie, I think Vando has a team option, player option, something like that, I don't know who else — I mean, the roster is not set."
"Obviously that's Rob and the front office, they are going to figure out the best way to put this team together to go forward in the fall," James explained. "But it's not like we have a team full of multi-year guys that's stuck in a contract right now. So, I don't know, we'll see.
The Lakers' front office has sent a contrasting message: one that preaches the importance of building continuity with their current group.
“We’re incredibly proud of this group, getting to the Western Conference Finals,” Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said on Tuesday. “After the trade deadline, we had one of the top records in the league. I think keeping that continuity is going to be very important. We ultimately got knocked out by a team that has great continuity.
“That’s a high priority for us. We feel like we have a group of special players in the locker room. They enjoy playing with each other, Darvin enjoys coaching them. We know there’s more growth and improvement in that group, especially if we get a training camp together. So, I would say it’s a high priority to keep our core players together.”
Pelinka went further to make the Lakers' intentions clear to keep their impending free agents Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and D'Angelo Russell — along with Jarred Vanderbilt, who has a team option.
“I would say this resoundingly clear, our intentions are to keep our core of young guys together,” Pelinka said. “We saw incredible growth and achievement by Rui (Hachimura), Austin — I could go down the list — Vando, D’Lo. We have a lot of great young players and we want to do our best to fit the puzzle together...Again, without talking specific players, we’ll do our best to keep this group intact and growing and getting better each year.”
Irving will surely continue to be linked to the Lakers as the team aims to put the necessary pieces around James, regardless of what public comments are made. In the meantime, the Mavs remain optimistic about their outlook to re-sign Irving.
Irving averaged averaged 26.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists after being traded to the Mavs. He is eligible to sign a five-year, $272.9 million contract to remain in Dallas, or sign a four-year deal worth $201.7 million with a different team.
Grant Afseth is a Dallas Mavericks reporter for DallasBasketball.com and an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network. He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth).
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