All summer long, it has seemed that the only way for the Los Angeles Lakers to resurrect themselves and become a championship contender again would be to trade for Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving.
The two teams reportedly had talks several weeks ago, but nothing materialized, and now it appears the Nets will be running it back rather than looking to trade Irving.
There may still be another potential trade out there involving Russell Westbrook that would give L.A. a real shot at contending for the title, but it remains to be seen if the team could even pull off such a deal.
Fox Sports 1 personality Skip Bayless thinks the Lakers have been crazy for thinking Irving could be their “savior.”
"It amuses me that the Lakers franchise considers Kyrie Irving their savior, when he was the catalyst for tearing apart the Brooklyn Nets last year." — @RealSkipBayless
A hot take on the Lakers possible acquisition of Kyrie Irving 👀pic.twitter.com/jc8nMiLas8
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) August 26, 2022
Irving will still become a free agent next summer, and reportedly, some in the Lakers’ organization are holding out hope that they could still acquire him at that time.
However, the fact remains that Irving helped torpedo what looked like a promising season for the Nets last year. Since he didn’t get vaccinated against COVID-19, he was unable to play in games that took place in New York City due to a vaccine mandate, and the Nets decided to send him home for most of the season instead.
It is anyone’s guess whether Irving would be fully committed to basketball if he were to join the Lakers at some point.
