Why Lakers, Not Mavericks, Are Where Kyrie Irving Actually Wants To Reunite With LeBron James

Will the two players reunite this summer?

Will they or won't they? That is the question for LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Two straight summer of potential reunion talk between the star players and still nobody has any real idea of what might take place. All the talk has been about Irving joining Los Angeles until a short time ago when it was reported that Irving reached out to James about possibly joining the Dallas Mavericks.

Realistically, this idea is just a dream as the Mavericks don't have the pieces to trade for James and the only way it would be possible for him to join, would be the Lakers buying him out. Which isn't going to happen.

Chris Branch of Bleacher Report talked about and how the likelihood of James joining Dallas is low to nonexistent. 

This is 99 percent not happening in Dallas. A trade seems ill-advised for all parties.

Both players know this fact so this all seems like a ploy or a power move to try and push the Lakers to go all in and bring Irving to sunny California. Getting Irving would form a strong trio of James, Irving and Anthony Davis. The three would compliment each other well on the court and make the Lakers one of the favorites to win it all.

This feels like leverage to try and force Pelinka to make a move for Irving. But one thing is clear, LeBron and Kyrie want to play together again next season

— Matthew Levine (@Levine1445) June 5, 2023

Leverage is everything in sports, but especially in the NBA. If James and Irving really want to team up next season, it'll have to be in Los Angeles. The Lakers can make it work much easier than Dallas. However, the team has maintained that they aren't interested in bringing Irving to town but again, how real is this? It benefits the Lakers to put that out there, real or not. Once again, leverage may be at play. 

Los Angeles would need to sacrifice depth from their roster to bring Irving in but if James is dead-set on playing with Irving for his last season or two, the team may have to make it happen. After all, James did hint at a possible retirement so he could always fall back on that.

Whatever happens, Irving and the Lakers will be linked until there is a final conclusion to the story. It makes sense to bring Irving in but it's just one of many questions that the team must answer this summer.

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