LeBron James Has ‘Known Preference’ to Pry Kyrie Irving From Mavericks

Getty Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks.

Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving was seen sitting courtside at Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals where the Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Denver Nuggets. Of course, with Irving’s former teammate LeBron James headlining L.A.’s roster, the rumblings of the two reuniting rose again.

Though Laker fans, who lead the league in jersey photoshops, usually link just about every player to their team, there appears to actually be some interest in bringing Irving to play at Crypto.com Arena.

According to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, James has a “known preference” to bring in Irving to be the third star alongside him and Anthony Davis.

“There is a known preference [of James] to have Irving as the third star,” Buha wrote. “There are various machinations to make it work, including the Lakers creating upwards of $30-35 million in cap space by rescinding the free-agency rights of multiple players and declining multiple players’ team options. The Lakers could still retain [Austin] Reaves if they signed Irving, though their depth would take a considerable hit. The Lakers could also acquire Irving in a sign-and-trade, but that would hard-cap them at $169.5 million and require the Mavericks to cooperate.”

Dallas swung a deal to land Irving from the Brooklyn Nets ahead of this season’s trade deadline. Unfortunately for them, he didn’t give them the boost they needed to be amongst the top teams in the Western Conference. However, that doesn’t mean that they’d just let him walk or help him get to the Lakers.

Kyrie Irving and Mavericks Have ‘Handshake Agreement’ on New Deal

While the rumblings of Irving heading to L.A. are a lot of fun, specifically for Lakers fans, they may be just that, rumblings.

Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus reported that he and the Mavericks had reached a “handshake agreement” prior to the mid-season trade.

“I hear they had a handshake deal before the trade,” one source told Pincus. “And Kyrie wouldn’t have said yes to anything less than the max.”

Pincus also reported on what a new contract keeping Irving in Dallas would look like.

“I hear he’s going back to Dallas on a 3+1 [a player option on the fourth year]. His contract will line up [identically] with Luka [Doncic]‘s.” one player agent revealed to Pincus.

The Slovenian star is under contract through at least the end of the 2025-26 season, with a player option for the 2026-27 campaign.

Mavs Want to Trade No. 10 Pick to Add Help for Kyrie Irving & Luka Doncic

Before Irving officially hits free agency this summer, the Mavs will have a chance to either draft a young prospect with their No. 10 overall pick, or trade it for an established veteran.

According to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer, Dallas is leaning towards the latter.

“There are other teams rival executives are already pinning as potential trade candidates,” Fischer wrote. “Dallas avoided disaster by landing its top-10 protected pick at the No. 10 spot, and the Mavericks are certainly expected to explore the market for that selection in hopes of adding to their All-Star backcourt of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the latter of which will become an unrestricted free agent this summer.”