The Los Angeles Lakers had a chance to add a third star alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis last summer, but chose a different approach instead.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN appeared on the Wednesday, June 5 edition of the network’s morning program “Get Up,” during which he reported that the Lakers could have cleared the necessary salary cap space to reunite James with Kyrie Irving in L.A. last offseason but prioritized the re-signing of Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and D’Angelo Russell.
Brian Windhorst says the Lakers could have created cap space to sign Kyrie Irving last summer but decided to re-sign the players who helped them reach the Western Conference Finals last season
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“Last summer, Kyrie actively wanted LeBron to come to Dallas. LeBron wanted Kyrie to come to the Lakers. Now, LeBron going to Dallas, he’s under contract, that’s not feasible,” Windhorst said. “When it was relayed to me … that Kyrie wanted LeBron in Dallas, I went and checked on it. Basically LeBron’s side said, ‘We’d love to play with Kyrie — in L.A.’ The Lakers actually could have created the cap space to beat the [Dallas] Mavericks‘ offer last year, but they elected not to. They elected to re-sign the players from the team that had just gotten to the Western Conference Finals.”
Irving ended up signing a three-year deal worth $120 million to remain in Dallas, which keeps him under contract through 2025-26 but also includes a player option for that final season.
Mavericks Have Recreated Situation Kyrie Irving Had With LeBron James in Cleveland
GettyKyrie Irving (left) high fives LeBron James (right).
Windhorst’s reporting, and the network’s request for it, came on the eve of Irving’s return to the NBA Finals six years since his last appearance on the sport’s biggest stage. The last time he played for a title, Irving did so as James’ sidekick on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
James left Cleveland the following offseason for Los Angeles, where he has remained ever since and where he captured the fourth championship ring of his career. Meanwhile, Irving played tumultuous and less successful stints with the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets before landing next to Luca Doncic as a member of the Mavericks.
“When Kyrie left Cleveland, [he and James] pretty much didn’t talk for years. … They were at odds,” Windhorst said Wednesday. “At some point in the last few years, they’ve made up — to the point where LeBron actively wanted the Lakers to trade for Kyrie Irving when he was on the trade block a couple of different times in like 22′, 23′. The Lakers made an offer at the trade deadline last year, Dallas’ offer was just better. They [had] better players to trade and potentially more valuable picks.”
Playing a strong second fiddle to arguably the best player in the league is what Irving is doing now with Doncic in Dallas, which echoes the precise situation he had with James in Cleveland when they made four consecutive trips to the Finals between 2015-18 and won a title together.
Lakers Could Have Created Big 3 That May Be in NBA Finals Had It Been Realized
GettyLakers stars LeBron James (left) and Anthony Davis (right).
Even though Doncic is clearly a superior player to James at the current points in their respective careers, it isn’t unreasonable to assume the Lakers could have had similar success to that the Mavericks have found this postseason by re-pairing a matured and more even-keeled version of Irving alongside James — not to mention with the added help of a superstar big man in Davis.
Making the move would have created difficulties for L.A. when it came to surrounding that potential Big 3 with talent, but title hopes and sunny Southern California would have certainly helped the franchise’s cause of rounding out the roster.
Instead, the Lakers will now watch the NBA Finals from home as they consider what might have been, after the Denver Nuggets dispatched them from the playoffs across a short series for the second consecutive year.
James seems already to be contemplating such things, as he noted during the June 4 edition of the “Mind the Game” podcast that he co-hosts with prospective Lakers head coach JJ Redick.
“I’m so f***ing happy and so proud to watch him continue his growth,” James said. “I’m so f***ing mad at the same time that I’m not his running mate anymore.”
Irving responded to James’ praise on Wednesday.
“It’s appreciated. There’s a lot of gratitude there, as well. I think there were some things that got in the way of our relationship when I was a little bit younger,” Irving said. “Now that I’m able to vocalize how I feel as a man, be comfortable in it, stand on my square, my beliefs, where I’m coming from, I feel like our relationship’s different because of that now. Definitely miss him.”
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Lakers Passed on Chance to Add $120 Million NBA Finals Player Last Summer: Report