The Los Angeles Lakers had an impressive turnaround to their 2022-23 NBA season by making the Western Conference Finals. Only a few months ago, LeBron James and company weren’t even in Play-In spots.
All it took to become a competitive team was a major overhaul at the trade deadline, as Rob Pelinka pulled off enough moves to give the purple and gold a new look. However, maybe there were not enough changes to go the distance.
The Denver Nuggets have been a bigger challenge for the Lakers, whose championship aspirations were suddenly put on the line. Therefore, ESPN‘s Brian Windhorst believes they could pursue Kyrie Irving in the offseason.
Rumor: Lakers could chase Kyrie Irving
“I could just see Kyrie [Irving] ready to come, and the feel on like, ‘Look, we just got to the conference finals, imagine if we replace [D’Angelo] Russell with Kyrie?’” Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective, via the NY Post.
“The Lakers have fallen for this before. The way this is ending, I think it’s increasing the chances of it happening. It would take a little bit of maneuvering, and Kyrie would probably have to not take the max, or [the Lakers] would have to work on something with Dallas, but they can get there. They can keep [Austin] Reeves and get Kyrie.”
D’Angelo Russell has been a great solution in the second half of the season, but he couldn’t replicate his performances in the playoffs, especially against the Nuggets. Therefore, a move for Irving would make sense.
