After the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs, rumors started to circulate about their offeseason plans for the roster.
The Lakers are reportedly going to look to chase after a third star in the summer, with Trae Young and Donovan Mitchell the most likely targets. However, Los Angeles was also linked to Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving, who’s currently still in the postseason.
There’s been no secret that the Lakers have been strongly interested in reuniting LeBron James with his former co-star in Irving, though at this point it feels like the opportunity has passed them by. Irving attended a Los Angeles playoff game last year because of his interest in playing with James again but admitted then he was happy with Dallas.
In the midst of his playoff run with the Mavericks, Irving confirmed that reuniting with James was in consideration, via Melissa Rohlin of FOX Sports:
“Everything was considered,” Irving told FOX Sports after Game 5 on Wednesday in Los Angeles, flashing a smile.
Irving went on to say that his chance to play with James was out of his hands and that stakeholders for teams should be asked why the two didn’t get another opportunity together:
“He’s a great friend of mine, a great brother of mine,” Irving told FOX Sports. “We obviously played together [in Cleveland]. Everybody knows our history. But there were so many different factors in between. When it comes to business decisions, you have to ask the GMs, the presidents why certain things didn’t work out.”
Lastly, the star point guard admitted that he’ll think about what could have been playing alongside James a second time:
But that doesn’t mean every once in a while, his mind won’t drift to what could’ve been had he and James gotten a second chance.
“Yeah,” he said, “It was fun to think about it.”
A bonafide scorer and go-to option in the postseason, Irving would’ve been a perfect fit for this year’s Lakers team that struggled to score when James wasn’t on the floor. It’s fun to think about them winning high-leverage games for Los Angeles, but that seems more like a dream than a reality at this current juncture.
LeBron James hasn’t made decision on future with Lakers
This offseason is a critical one for the Lakers, especially because James holds a player option for the 2024-24 season. While James is likely to return, he publicly came out and said he hasn’t made a decision on his future.
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