LeBron James Relationship with Kyrie Irving Discussed

LeBron James didn’t get a ring this past season and now people say he should join forces with Kyrie Irving. The latter is in a rather complicated situation at the moment. The Brooklyn Nets may lose both him and Kevin Durant. KD wouldn’t stay around if Irving goes somewhere else and everything points to the fact that Irving will put on a different jersey.

Shams Charania from The Athletic reported that Irving’s negotiations with the Nets got stuck in the middle of nowhere. If he leaves Brooklyn, the Lakers have a chance to get him. The same goes to the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers.

Joining the Lakers won’t be that easy. There was a tension between Irving and LeBron. Putting them on the same roster may be a dangerous experiment. Well, Charania had something else to say.

“Yeah, I mean, I think Kyrie said it openly as far as his public comments about LeBron and I think a lot has been made about their relationship, especially the way Kyrie Irving left the Cavaliers, the way that Kyrie Irving left the Cavs as far as asking out and ending up in Boston. There was a lot made about their relationship, but, you know, sources have told me that was never a fractured relationship,” Charania told Pat McAfee on June 20. “It’s always been a dialogue that has existed between those two. And so that is of course gonna be a factor in all of this.”

LeBron James and Kyrie Irving to end up on the same team

Irving has to do his best to become a Laker. He can pick up his player option for the upcoming season and force his way out of the Nets. Rob Pelinka doesn’t have much money to play with and signing a superstar in free agency is not an option.

“For the Lakers, the likely path to acquire Irving — and reunite him with LeBron James — would be Irving opting in to facilitate a trade, because the Lakers cannot realistically clear cap space to sign him themselves, and a sign-and-trade would trigger the hard cap, thus making acquiring Irving significantly more difficult,” Charania wrote. “If Irving would opt-in, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka would have to satisfy the collective bargaining agreement’s salary-matching rules, meaning if Irving’s $36.6 million was the only incoming salary, the Lakers could send anywhere from $29.3 million to $45.8 million to the Nets and/or a third team in a legal transaction.”