At this point, it seems pretty inevitable that the Brooklyn Nets will eventually swap Kyrie Irving in Los Angeles to join LeBron James. When this exchange takes place and what is ultimately seen is still a conjecture, but given that all attempts to link other teams to Irving’s interest or generate leverage almost immediately are rejected by those teams, it seems that the Lakers are essentially playing. a game of musical chairs against themselves to end up as the next stop of the mercurial base when the music of this saga ends.
And as this adventure unfolds, it seems that, for the second summer in a row, it is James himself who is putting pressure as hard as anyone for a new co-star. NBA veteran Marc Stein, in his latest Substack column, reported on Sunday (my emphasis):
Brooklyn insists talks are only preliminary at the moment, but Chris Haynes’ report Saturday that the Nets and Lakers have discussed a change of Kyrie Irving only fueled what is already a widespread expectation that Irving is destined to end the Lakers.
Sure I think so too. I know Irving has been in Los Angeles this week, but that’s not the source of my confidence. It stems from the repeated rumors circulating that LeBron James is taking strong root for the addition of Irving to the list.
I’m told James wants to see Irving in Lakerland more than anyone. What other team, moreover, has a personality the size of LeBron with the experience to deal with all the chaos that comes with adding Kyrie? James, remember, has often thrived in chaos.
This is not exactly a surprise; after all, replacing Westbrook with Irving could be James ’last real chance to build a winner in Los Angeles after last year’s debacle, but it’s notable that it’s been confirmed. This interest of James is also one more reason to see this agreement not as a matter of “if,” but of “when.”
And to delve deeper into Stein’s point, not only does James have experience teaming up with Irving, but the Lakers are perhaps the only NBA team that would feel safe enough to face Irving, relying on two more factors:
- Irving’s desire to be in Los Angeles, as no team will give up assets for him with a one-year contract if he’s in a place where he doesn’t want to be after … well, gestures to last. season *
- The fact that his presence would mean a clear improvement in basketball’s fit above the team’s last base, and that there is no convincing argument that even Irving’s perpetual unpredictability would be a rebate from the locker room perspective, considering who he is. d be substituting in the team hierarchy.
Just for those reasons, the Lakers are likely to make a bid against themselves here and have a variety of compelling motivations to get it. If they do today, this week or this month it’s still up in the air, but at this point, it’s hard not to see it. There just doesn’t seem to be any other options for anyone involved.
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