No ‘Overwhelming Sentiment’ From Lakers That They Want To Sign Kyrie Irving

LeBron James wants the Los Angeles Lakers to sign his former teammate Kyrie Irving, but the front office may have different plans regarding the veteran player. A Western Conference general manager claims that the Lakers aren’t too interested in getting Irving. The Dallas Mavericks veteran enters the open market this summer and he has already attracted the attention of several teams.

“I would not like the message very much if I were on the Lakers or if I were in the front office,” the general manager told Heavy Sports of Irving attending Lakers’ postseason games. “There’s not an overwhelming sentiment from them like, ‘We gotta go get Kyrie.’ It’s just LeBron. That sets up a big clash, LeBron vs. the org. You know, the last time LeBron won a clash like that, they got Russell Westbrook. Maybe he should think about that.”

The Lakers have to make some adjustments and lose several players if they want to get Irving. Austin Reaves became a fan favorite this season, but he may be the first to go. The same applies to Rui Hachimura. Will the Lakers even agree to lose these two just to get Irving?

There’s more. The Mavericks won’t make things any easier for them. NBA insider Marc Stein discussed the situation in Dallas, suggesting that the front office won’t really agree to replace Irving with D’Angelo Russell. Yes, Russell was great in the regular season, but his performance win the postseason was a bit disappointing. He showed zero dominance in the series against the Denver Nuggets.

Dallas won’t let the Lakers sign Irving even if they want to

The Mavericks will probably try to keep Irving around for another season. Jason Kidd and Luka Doncic want him to play with the team again. So, no, LA will probably start the new season without LeBron’s former teammate.

“While we await a clear indication about the Lakers’ intentions [regarding free agency], with no verifiable signal to date that pursuing Irving is among their offseason priorities, league sources say that the Mavericks would have no interest in a sign-and-trade with the Lakers that features D’Angelo Russell as the primary Dallas-bound player,” Stein wrote. “All indications are that the Mavericks remain intent on re-signing Irving.”