NBA
LeBron James still wants Kyrie Irving, Lakers to trade first-round picks
Jon is a current senior at Penn State University, majoring in journalism and minoring in sports studies. Jon was a member of the D1 baseball team before injuring his shoulder. He loves the Milwaukee Bucks and writing about various different sports.
All posts by Jon ConahanUpdated19 Aug 2022
New reports have come out that LeBron James is still interested in acquiring Kyrie Irving for the Los Angeles Lakers. With the news coming out this week that LeBron has now officially signed a new two-year contract with Los Angeles, the Lakers might be even more aggressive than they were.
Knowing that they have LeBron James locked up for at least two more seasons is certainly going to help this team make some better decisions. They could go all in to win a title right now and adding Kyrie Irving would certainly help that.
LeBron Still Wants Kyrie Irving
According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic:
“The primary complication in James’ decision was that he has been privately adamant that the Lakers still need to improve the current roster and trade for superstar point guard Kyrie Irving, league sources have told The Athletic,” Buha wrote.
Marc Stein says LeBron has been happy with the decision that Los Angeles might be willing to trade their future first-round picks:
“L.A. has nonetheless pledged to James that it will indeed continue to aggressively pursue upgrades,” “League sources say James, in fact, has been assured that the Lakers are willing to trade both of their available future first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 if a trade that costs them both picks can realistically position the Lakers to return to contender status.”
As we all know, all LeBron wants to do is win. According to Dave McMenamin, LeBron just wants to be on a team that can compete for a title:
“LeBron just wants to be in a situation where he can compete for the playoffs once again. Once he’s in the playoffs he feels like ‘I got a chance.’ More often than not, when he makes the postseason, he’s in the NBA Finals.”
Will A Trade Happen For Kyrie Irving?
It’s going to be interesting to see if a deal does get done for Kyrie Irving. The Lakers don’t necessarily have the pieces that the Brooklyn Nets are looking for, but we’ve seen crazier things happen in this league. If they do throw in those two first-round picks, the Lakers might be able to get a deal done.
