The Lakers had their chance to sign Kyrie Irving in free agency last year but chose not to pursue the opportunity, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
When the Lakers tried to trade Irving before he became a free agent last summer, they did not pursue him in free agency despite being able to beat Dallas’ offer.
“LeBron wanted the Lakers to trade Kyrie Irving when we were at the trade window, a few different times in ’22 and ’23,” Windhorst said on a recent episode of Get Up. “The Lakers made an offer at the trade deadline last year. Dallas’ offer was better. “…
Brian Windhorst says the Lakers could have made room to sign Kyrie Irving last summer but decided to re-sign the players who helped them reach the Western Conference finals last season.
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“The Lakers could have beaten the Mavericks (in free agency) last year, but they chose not to. They chose to re-sign players from a team that had just reached the Western Conference finals.
“So there are a few criminals around. I don’t suspect that we will see the opportunity for them to play again (together), but I will never say that it will not be in the NBA.”
Windhorst’s comments closely followed James saying, “I’m so angry that I’m not his running mate anymore,” referring to Irving on the Mind The Game podcast.
However, it should be noted that if the Lakers cleared the necessary cap space to land Irving, there is still no way to know for sure if he would have signed with the Mavericks.
But playing in LA alongside James would be a very attractive option, especially when you consider that Dallas failed to make the playoffs last season.
READ MORE: Kyrie Irving Responds To LeBron James’ Comments About Him
