NBA analyst 'doesn't see' LA Lakers adding Kyrie Irving in the offseason
Kyrie Irving, the one big name linked to the LA Lakers since last summer, was not among the moves the team made this season. Those trades reworked the roster to improve depth and support for stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, leading to their first playoff series win since 2020. Now, a major analyst and Lakers fan doesn't see Irving in the team's future.
On "Skip and Shannon: Undisputed," Shannon Sharpe spoke about the possibility of the Lakers acquiring the eight-time All-Star in this year's free agency.
"The Lakers are more interested in the team they have now," Sharpe said, "especially since they're playing well and just putting this team together at the trade deadline. I just don't see it. I just don't see them making that move."
From Sharpe's perspective, Irving will be looking to get a contract from a contender heading into free agency, depending on how his situation with the Dallas Mavericks pans out.
With LeBron James and Anthony Davis locked into max contracts, adding Irving to that mix would force owner Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka to trade away assets like Austin Reeves, Rui Hachimura and D'Angello Russell.
Kyrie Irving's track record of availability makes teams hesitant to place such a huge financial bet on him. The mercurial talent has played no more than 60 games in eight of his 11 seasons. Meanwhile, even when he's on the court, teams aren't sure which version of Irving they're going to get.
This season, Kyrie Irving averaged 27.1 points on 49.4% shooting, including 37.9% from 3-point range, 5.5 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals. Irving started the season with Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets but demanded a trade, landing with the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 6.
Lakers owner Jeanie Buss commends her team for pushing through adversity
In an interview with People magazine, Jeanie Buss praised her Lakers for the impressive turnaround they made considering their 2-10 start.
"I'm proud of this Lakers team this season," Buss said. "We started off poorly, and it would've been easy to give up. These guys committed to each other and really came in the second half of the season and made a nice playoff push, which is really what the fans want."
Seventh-seeded Los Angeles upset the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in six games to win their Western Conference first-round series. They are currently matched up against the sixth-seeded Golden State Warriors, featuring one of the greatest shooting backcourts in history, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
For some fans, the scenario of reaching the second round would have been a dream, but they have arrived and primed themselves for a deep playoff run.