The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off a disastrous 49-loss 2021-22 season in which both LeBron James and Anthony Davis missed substantial time to injury.
Said performance forced the Lakers to fire head coach Frank Vogel as they prepare for an offseason of dramatic changes.
Could that included pulling off a Kyrie Irving trade? It’s highly doubtful. However, there’s a report circulating that the Lakers considered a potential Irving trade early during the 2021-22 season.
“Some members of the Lakers organization discussed the possibility of trading for Irving during that stretch of the season. The deal would have obviously reunited Irving with LeBron James. It’s unclear if the Lakers reached any internal consensus on Irving at the time.”
SNY’s Ian Begley on Los Angeles Lakers’ interest in a Kyrie Irving trade
This came at a time when Irving was forced to sit out games due to his stance against the COVID-19 vaccines and New York City’s mandates. Irving ultimately played in 29 regular-season games before the Nets were swept out of the NBA Playoffs in the first round by the Boston Celtics.
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Kyrie Irving trade unlikely to happen
As Begley noted, the entire Lakers potential interest in Irving could be moot right now. The NBA champion has a contract option for the 2022-23 season, which he will likely decline. At that point, Irving is expected to re-sign with the Nets.
He recently touched on wanting to return to Brooklyn and help Kevin Durant return to the team to title contention after a down 2021-22 season.
“In terms of my extension, I don’t really plan on going anywhere. Like I said, this is added motivation for our franchise to be at the top of the league for the next few years. Just looking forward to the summer and just building with our guys here.
When I say that I’m here with Kev (Durant), I think that it entails us managing this franchise together.”
Kyrie Irving on wanting to return to the Nets
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Los Angeles Lakers looking to make impact trade?
Any deal to acquire Irving likely would have cost the Lakers Anthony Davis. There’s renewed rumors that Los Angeles general manager Rob Pelinka and Co. might look to trade the injury-plagued big man.
However, it’s not yet known what type of bounty Davis would receive in return. There’s reportedly limited interest in his services due to the aforementioned injury issues. Davis, 29, has missed 78 games to injuries over the past two seasons.
What we do know is that the status quo is not working behind LeBron James in Southern California. He spearheaded a trade for former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook last offseason, only to see that relationship go up in flames.
The Lakers are trying to get out of Westbrook’s bloated contract. He has a played option of $47.06 million for next season, which the guard is expected to pick up. But as with AD, the Los Angeles Lakers are going to have a hard time finding a trade partner for Russ.