Lakers News: Reporters Unpack Pluses And Minuses Of An LA Kyrie Irving Free Agency Pursuit
When news broke that Dallas Mavericks All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving was angling to compel Los Angeles Lakers All-NBA small forward LeBron James to force LA to flip him to the Lone Star State, pundits crunched the numbers and discerned that Los Angeles, not Dallas, would be the more sensible site for a reunion of the two former Cleveland Cavaliers comrades.
Accordingly, Jason Lloyd and Jon Greenberg of The Athletic decided to weigh the positives and negatives of an Irving arrival in Los Angeles, just a few months from removed from the club trying to add him at the trade deadline.
Lloyd opines that, with James in decline and primed to enter the 21st season of his pro career, the 19-time All-Star could use another lead ball handler to help take on some of the Lakers' playmaking burden and give James some relief on that front. Irving is also a terrific catch-and-shoot scoring compliment when James has the rock in his hands. Often at the ends of playoff games, an exhausted James would make costly, uncharacteristic mistakes with the ball after overexerting himself earlier. Irving, on the floor at least, would be a huge upgrade over current start D'Angelo Russell.
Greenberg counters that Irving, who at 31 is himself not quite in his prime anymore either, has devolved into a head case and off-court irritant who's been unable to stay on the floor, either due to injury or his various controversies. Irving would be too great a distraction for an LA team that has legitimate championship aspirations behind its still-potent star duo of James and Anthony Davis. Greenberg posits that the Lakers should avoid making the same all-in maneuvering that landed it another washed-up former superstar in Russell Westbrook a few seasons ago, and should instead look to bring back most of its post-trade deadline supporting cast, while making smaller improvements around the margins of its roster.
I'm with Greenberg on this. Irving in particular would be too erratic a person (and also too bad a defender at a critical position) to help the Lakers when it matters most.
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