Kyrie Irving, the point guard for the beleaguered Brooklyn Nets, has been banned for making antisemitic statements. The Los Angeles Lakers’ reported interest in him may be nothing more than a publicity stunt.
Sam Amick of The Athletic is said to have talked to 11 NBA officials who did not want to be named. All of them agreed that their teams would not take any kind of risk on Irving.
Lakers Fall Within This Category
As he put it, “sources indicate the Lakers have considerable misgivings about the notion of getting Irving at any price and have not been focused on that scenario all season long.”
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This view was first reported in early October and has not changed.
Laker Land is an unlikely landing site, though not an impossible one.
Irving’s NBA basketball playing time has been cut down a lot because of his personal problems and health problems, even though he has a lot of talent.
Statmuse points out that Irving has missed more games (128) than he has ever played (111) in his 12 seasons, which is a real worry for any team that wants to sign him.
Replaced Westbrook in the Starting Lineup
Since moving Russell Westbrook to the bench, which looks to be the right option, the Lakers’ lack of depth in the backcourt has been glaringly obvious.
Because of the trade, the Lakers have replaced Westbrook in the starting lineup with either Patrick Beverley, Kendrick Nunn, or Austin Reaves.
But when asked about Irving’s future in the NBA, the executives cited by The Athletic were optimistic that his career was far from over.
“Some desperate club, certain they have the correct management in place to get the most out of him on a short-term contract, will always sign him.” From here on out, I see only one-year contracts for him as “executive number 5.”
There have been new whispers that Irving might be traded by the Dallas Mavericks this season or in the summer of 2023.
Mark Cuban will have a lot of time to analyse the benefits and drawbacks of acquiring him and teaming him with Luka Doncic, since the two players would complement each other well on the basketball floor.
While adding Irving might help the Lakers from a point guard’s viewpoint, it won’t do much to fix their lack of depth elsewhere on the roster.