This NBA offseason was full of rumors surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers and their pursuit of Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving. Irving was seeking ways to leave the Nets and was met with an ice-cold market as the Lakers were the only franchise that showed any real interest in acquiring him.
There were some ideas exchanged between the teams as Los Angeles was looking to upgrade their roster. They wanted to pair Irving back up with LeBron James, hoping to replicate the success that the two found when they were playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
However, their pursuit of Irving essentially ended when he opted into his contract for the 2022-23 season with the Nets. Brooklyn had no intentions of moving the mercurial point guard and focused their efforts on convincing Kevin Durant to return to the franchise as well. That eventually occurred, giving the Nets their All-Star duo once again.
While the drama subsided, for now, there were still some rumors floating around about Irving’s future. While he was committed to the Nets for the upcoming season, what were his plans when he hit free agency in 2023?
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn Nets & Los Angeles Lakers Updates
There were a lot of reports that Irving would eventually make his way to the Lakers. Whether it was via trade ahead of the deadline or as a free agent, he and James were destined to team up again.
Alas, that no longer sounds like the case. In a piece over at The Athletic put together by Shams Charania, Sam Amick and Jovan Buha, Irving is not part of the franchise’s long-term plans.
This will come as a surprise to many people as Irving seemed destined to eventually end up out west. With the amount of cap space that the Lakers are going to be able to generate next offseason, they would have been able to afford Irving, adding him to James and Anthony Davis to give the Lakers their newest Big 3.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn Nets & Los Angeles Lakers Updates
Instead, it sounds as if they will go in a different direction. Breaking up their available salary and signing multiple rotation pieces instead of one is likely a better strategy. In that scenario, they can continue upgrading the supporting cast around their star players.
