The Los Angeles Lakers will reportedly be on the market for a new point guard. The D’Angelo Russell experiment didn’t work out in the NBA playoffs, and LeBron James isn’t so high on him, according to the latest reports.
There’s a shortage of star-caliber players in this year’s free agency, and the Lakers don’t have that much cap space to make a run at a superstar anyways. Obviously, that severely hampers their ability to make a run at a big-name player.
That, plus the fact that both parties reportedly shook hands on a contract extension months ago, makes it nearly impossible for them to lure Kyrie Irving away from the Dallas Mavericks.
Kyrie Irving Already Has An Agreement With The Mavs
(Transcript via Eric Pinus – Bleacher Report)
“‘I hear they had a handshake deal before the trade [with the Brooklyn Nets],’ one source said. “And Kyrie wouldn’t have said yes to anything less than the max.’
Is Irving worth that price?
‘Maybe to Dallas, he is. I’m not sure what the market is for Kyrie, but no one with cap room is giving it to Kyrie. He comes with too much drama,’ another source said.
Assuming a $134 million salary cap, Irving would be eligible to re-sign with the Mavericks for a five-year, $272 million contract.
‘I hear he’s going back to Dallas on a 3+1 [a player option on the fourth year]. His contract will line up [identically] with Luka’s.’ one player agent said—which would total $210.1 million.”
For now, it seems like the Mavericks are fully invested in this experiment, even though the early returns indicated that it could be a disaster for the next couple of years.
Russell isn’t likely to be back in Los Angeles, regardless of what happens with Kyrie. So, the Lakers might have to dig deep into the market to find their new playmaker.
