The Los Angeles Lakers were just terrible throughout last season as they finished outside the playoffs at 33-49. It wasn’t from a lack of trying as the team tried to make a major blockbuster deal that could’ve saved their season or brought more drama.
According to SNY’s Ian Begley, the Lakers “discussed the possibility” of acquiring Kyrie Irving while the Brooklyn Nets point guard was sitting out due to COVID-19 vaccination mandates in New York.
Begley wrote that “it’s unclear if the Lakers reached any internal consensus on Irving at the time.”
Irving and James won an NBA championship together in Cleveland in 2016, but Irving forced a trade after the following season and landed in Boston before taking his talents to the Nets.
James won another title with the Lakers during the 2020 COVID bubble.
The Lakers finished 11th in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs, while the Nets were swept in the first round by the Celtics.
Irving said recently on “The ETCs with Kevin Durant” podcast that he worried at times during the season that he might be traded.
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“It was only the journey to enjoy at that point, because I was sitting at home and — I don’t even want to say sitting at home, I was wondering at home what my future was going to look like, you know?” Irving said. “Whether I was going to be traded, whether I was going to be released, whether I was going to get the opportunity to be on another team, how I was going to spin this for myself in a positive way.”
Should he decline his $36.9 million option for next season he would be eligible to sign a five-year deal worth up $246 million.
