The Los Angeles Lakers fell short of their goal. Despite being one of the best teams in the second half of the NBA season, Anthony Davisā offensive shortcomings, LeBron Jamesā age, and the Denver Nuggetsā great play sent them back home.
Notably, the team isnāt too far off from being a legit NBA championship contender. But itās evident that they badly need an upgrade at the point guard position.
And with all then rumors about LeBron James not being much of a fan of DāAngelo Russell, a report by Heavy Sports recently confirmed that heās pushing for his team to replace him with Kyrie Irving.
LeBron James Wants The Lakers To Replace DāAngelo Russell With Kyrie Irving
However, the report also states that the Dallas Mavericks have no interest or incentive whatsoever in helping Kyrie or the Lakers with a sign-and-trade unless Austin Reaves and/or Anthony Davis become available:
(Transcript via Heavy)
āāWhile we await a clear indication about the Lakersā 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 DāAngelo Russell as the primary Dallas-bound player,ā [Marc] Stein wrote. āAll indications are that the Mavericks remain intent on re-signing Irving.
LeBron James wants the Lakers to replace Russell with Irving, sources told Heavy Sports. However, Los Angeles doesnāt have the cap space to sign Irving, who is looking for a max contract.ā
see also
LeBron James doesn"t want a Lakers player back next season
Truth be told, it doesnāt seem like the Lakers can pull this off unless Kyrie somehow accepts to take a massive paycut, so Rob Pelinka might have to look somewhere else for his new point guard, as Russell simply isnāt likely to be a part of the team going forward.
