Getty Images Kryie Irving (foreground) and LeBron James (in sunglasses).
The Los Angeles Lakers are set to meet with free agent guard Kyrie Irving as they plot out their plans to improve their roster.
Irving has planned a handful of meetings as he looks for his next team. He’ll continue to keep in touch with the Dallas Mavericks — who swung a blockbuster trade for him last season — but is also set to hear from the Phoenix Suns, Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers, per Bill Reiter of CBS Sports.
Sources tell @CBSSports that on top of Dallas and Phoenix, Kyrie Irving will meet today with Miami, Houston, the Lakers and the Clippers. Meetings will be in Los Angeles and, in a few cases, remote.
Irving has been linked to the Lakers previously and superstar LeBron James has expressed a desire to play with his former teammate. The two won a title together with the Cleveland Cavaliers and have mended their relationship after a sour ending to their partnership.
The Lakers were in the mix to land Irving at the trade deadline but weren’t able to get the deal done.
“I can’t sit here and say I’m not disappointed on not being able to land such a talent, but [also] someone that I had great chemistry with, and know I got great chemistry with on the floor, that can help you win championships, in my mind, in my eyes,” James told ESPN’s Michael Wilbon in February.
Kyrie Irving Looking to Create Leverage With Mavs
The Mavericks are the favorite to land Irving, per Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report. Dallas can offer Irving a five-year, $272 million max contract and would like him to co-star with Luka Doncic, despite some disappointing results last season following the trade.
Irving taking a variety of meetings and exploring his options is being viewed as a way for him to gain some leverage on the Mavericks.
“Kyrie Irving is trying to create a market out there,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said. “It may just not be there for him. Certainly, Dallas, I think, is going to try to show some restraint, some discipline on what they’re going to offer Kyrie Irving with a new deal in Dallas. It’s going to be more than anybody else can offer him.
“I think he’s going to try to spend some time here trying to manufacture a marketplace of salary cap space and teams that might actually scare Dallas into thinking they have to up their offer. I’m not sure that’s happening. That will be an interesting process as it plays out. I still think Kyrie Irving inevitably will return back to Dallas on a deal to play with Luka Doncic.”
Lakers Unlikely to Seriously Pursue Kyrie Irving
The Lakers are at least going to hear Irving out but it seems unlikely that he’d land in LA as a co-star to James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers tried their version of a “Big Three” with Russell Westbrook and it was an unmitigated disaster.
Unless Irving is willing to take a significant pay cut, the Lakers would have to part ways with Rui Hachimura and likely Austin Reaves — two players the LA values immensely as part of their future.
The Lakers are more interested in adding key role players and keeping their core intact.
“We’re at the doorstep of free agency,” Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said on June 27. “And we’ve been pretty clear since our last game with the success of making it to the Western Conference finals, we want to try our hardest to keep this core of guys together and also improve around the edges and on the margins to not only get back to where we were last year but hopefully take the next step and get into the NBA Finals.”
Irving played in 60 games last season, averaging 27.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists. He shot around 50 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from beyond the arc. But he also comes with a boatload of off-court issues that are the last thing the Lakers want with their sights set on a championship.
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Lakers Take Next Step in Kyrie Irving Pursuit Ahead of Free Agency