NBA players occasionally appear in playoff games in which they do not participate. Sometimes their offseason home hosts a championship contender. Other times, they simply want to see and be seen in the greatest showcase of their sport. In the case of Kyrie Irving last offseason, KeynoteUSA’s Ramona Shelburne reported in January, it was for a much more practical purpose. The eight-time All-Star was headed to free agency, and a team he was interested in joining, the Los Angeles Lakers, was in the midst of a surprising run to the Western Conference Finals. He wanted to send the message to the league that he was sincere in his interest in becoming a Laker.
His former co-star LeBron James was definitely listening and was looking forward to joining forces again with Irving, whom James described as the “most talented player” of all time. But the purple and gold had already tried and failed to land Irving twice. The 2023 offseason represented an opportunity for a third true run with Irving, but they ultimately decided not to pursue him. Now, a year later, they wonder what he could have been.
The Lakers were eliminated from the 2024 playoffs in just five games against the Denver Nuggets. They are still looking for a third star to pair with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. But Irving? He is preparing to play in the NBA Finals as a member of the Dallas Mavericks, who have the Lakers to thank for having him on their roster. After all, if they had been able to get the deal done, he could be leading the Lakers back to the Finals right now.
In the summer of 2022, Irving used the Lakers as a threat to try to force his then-employer, the Brooklyn Nets, to give him a long-term contract extension. He was coming off a season in which he barely played due to his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19, so his influence was limited. To maximize it, he leaked interest in signing with the Lakers for the mid-level exception. The Nets called his bluff. He was never going to leave more than $30 million on the table for the 2022-23 season, and inevitably opted for the final year of his contract.
But the rumors about the Lakers did not disappear there. Kevin Durant asked for a trade on the night of the 2022 NBA Draft, and if he was going to move, the Nets would have no reason to keep Irving. The Lakers, at the time, were his only suitor, and it’s unclear exactly why they couldn’t get a deal done.
Chris Haynes reported for Yahoo at the time that the two sides were struggling to reach an agreement on draft compensation. The Lakers only had two tradable first-round picks available. The Nets also wanted the Lakers to take on the inflated contract of Joe Harris, who, at the time, had two years left.
If the Nets had taken Russell Westbrook’s expiring contract and two first-round picks (in 2027 and 2029) for Irving and Harris, the Lakers would likely regret passing. Such a deal would have given them their star trio of James, Davis and Irving. It also wouldn’t have cost them prized rookie Austin Reaves, and would have left the Lakers with at least some moving salary between Harris, Kendrick Nunn and 2023 mid-level signing Lonnie Walker IV.
That team, at that time, wouldn’t have been championship caliber, but it wouldn’t have been far off either. Let’s say the Lakers still found a way to turn around their midseason acquisition of Rui Hachimura by using Nunn or Walker. Perhaps Harris, at some point, could have been traded for some perimeter defense (with some first-round draft picks thrown in, of course). With those three stars in place and Reaves established as an emerging role player, building a champion would have been feasible.
Of course, it’s not clear that the Nets would have agreed to any deal at that point. “There’s a good chance Kyrie Irving will return to Brooklyn to start the season if Kevin Durant returns to Brooklyn,” KeynoteUSA’s Adrian Wojnarowski said midway through the saga. The logic made sense. If Durant was gone, Irving would almost have to date him. But it wouldn’t make sense to keep Durant without Irving on the roster.
Two first-round picks wouldn’t have done them much good, and the Nets weren’t in a position to replace Irving with an equally talented but less volatile guard. They were, in essence, a package. Even if they weren’t going to the same places, they both needed to stay if they weren’t going to go. No one gave the Nets a reasonable offer for Durant at the time, so it’s possible the Lakers wouldn’t have done anything to land Irving in the summer of 2022.
But in February 2023? Irving was completely available. Four teams are known to have seriously pursued Irving: the Lakers, Mavericks, Suns and Clippers. We now know that Phoenix was keeping its powder dry to sign Durant a few days later, and the Clippers lacked the assets to make a competitive offer. That functionally meant that everything was at stake between the Lakers and the Mavericks, and James made it known that he wanted his former teammate back at his side.
When asked if Irving was the type of player who could take the Lakers to the top, James initially deferred to general manager Rob Pelinka before finally conceding. “Obviously, that’s a question of what’s the word you use when you’re talking about a player like (Kyrie),” James said at the time.
Dallas finally got Irving for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a first-round pick and two second-round picks. It was an offer the Lakers could have outbid and the Nets demanded they do so. According to NBA journalist Marc Stein, the Nets asked for the moon.
“Based on everything they told me, the Nets asked the Lakers much more than they asked any other team for Kyrie,” Stein reported. “They didn’t just want the first two and Russ (Westbrook). They wanted (Austin) Reaves. They wanted (Max) Christie. They wanted Rui (Hachimura) separately. They wanted everything the Lakers had.” Stein also reported that one of Nets owner Joe Tsai’s goals was to send Irving somewhere other than his preferred destination: the Lakers.
If the Lakers had truly given up everything for Irving, it’s hard to imagine them building a viable team around him, James and Davis. Perhaps the Lakers could have taken a role player or two away from the Nets, who would have needed to send more salary just to match Westbrook’s money, but it’s hard to imagine they could have done much more from there.
The 2023 acquisition market was largely a failure. The Lakers perhaps could have completed their reunion with the Cavaliers by signing Kevin Love, but they would have had no path to defend the perimeter, except perhaps keeping Patrick Beverley, who they actually traded for Mo Bamba. With so little equivalent salary to work with, it’s hard to imagine them making significant business improvements in the offseason. They would have needed to find gold in the minimum market to even compete in 2024. Dallas did it with the signing of Derrick Jones Jr. The Lakers have never shown much aptitude towards those types of wings, instead focusing heavily on the scorers they manage the ball with its minimums. during the era of James. Ultimately, the Lakers can probably live without Irving at this point. They simply couldn’t have put together a good enough supporting cast.
If there was a time when it potentially made sense, it would have come in the 2023 offseason. It would have required some degree of sacrifice on both sides. The Lakers couldn’t reach maximum cap space last offseason, but they could have created a significant amount of money. If they were willing to give up everyone except James, Davis and Reaves, they would be looking at around $35.7 million in cap space.
In the most likely scenarios where they kept cheaper depth like Jarred Vanderbilt, Max Christie and the No. 17 pick, that figure would have been more like $28.9 million. In particular: If the Lakers had planned to pursue Irving with this slot, it seems likely they would have used the 17th pick on a win-now perspective instead of a project point guard like Jalen Hood-Schifino. That means they could have easily had Jaime Jaquez, Cam Whitmore or Brandin Podziemski at this point.
How close would such a contract have come to matching the one Dallas gave Irving? Well, actually, the Lakers could have surpassed the actual number. Dallas ultimately paid Irving $120 million over three years. A four-year deal starting at $28.9 million with a maximum annual increase of 5% would have worked out to approximately $124 million. Of course, that extra year is significant. Irving is likely to earn more than $4 million in the 2026-27 season, so the Dallas deal, with its higher annual payments, would have been more financially desirable.
If we start with that $35.7 million “keep Reaves, James and Davis” figure, then things get more interesting. A four-year contract at that price would have paid Irving $153.4 million. Dallas had full bird rights and the ability to outbid the Lakers if they wanted, but it’s unclear if they would have been willing to meet that price. At the very least, it would have given Irving something to think about.
Instead, the Lakers chose the conservative path. They didn’t function as a team with cap space at all, ultimately choosing to stay over the salary cap and re-sign their own free agents. The results were disappointing. But it’s hard to say the Lakers regret that path without knowing how it would have actually played out. Imagine if the Lakers had created the cap space necessary to sign Irving, only for Dallas to increase their offer to a figure they couldn’t match. Maybe they could have pursued another high-end guard like Fred VanVleet or James Harden, but there’s no guarantee they would have gotten even one of them. The Lakers may not be in a great place without Irving, but it’s not like they could have guaranteed his signature if they had gone all out.
Ultimately, that’s the Lakers’ situation after missing out on three separate opportunities to land Irving. The stars never quite aligned. When they absolutely could have purchased it, the cost would probably have been too high to justify it. In the moments when it could have been a little more affordable, it’s not even clear if they would have been able to close the deal.
It’s a “what if?” that the Lakers will always wonder, but it’s not something they should dwell on. They were never going to have the type of deep, well-rounded contender that the Mavericks have put around Irving. Ultimately, the risk outweighed the reward.
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