Since LeBron James started winning championships, he has always needed a pair of All-Stars to join him in his quest.
During his last title run, he had Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love alongside him to take down the mighty Golden State Warriors who had just won a league-record 73 wins in the 2015-16 regular season.
What if James can have one of those two with him once again when he chases after the Larry O’Brien trophy next season?
Based on a report from SB Nation’s Anthony Puccio, it appears that both James and the Los Angeles Lakers are on the same page about Irving potentially being the third All-Star to play in Purple and Gold next season:
“Sources say LeBron James and the Lakers are aggressively trying to recruit Kyrie to Los Angeles, but the Nets are currently the frontrunners. And the Lakers will have to make additional moves to get the cap space needed to pay him the $32.7 million he’s eligible to receive.”
This, plus an earlier report from The Athletic’s David Aldridge, who says that Irving wants to play with Davis, should encourage Laker fans about the possibility of seeing Irving play in Tinseltown.
General manager Rob Pelinka is hard at work to get to the $32.7 million cap space needed to lure another big-name free agent like Irving. But the franchise is currently staring at a deficit with only $23.7 million in cap space available if the Davis trade is finalized on July 6 (instead of June 30), and if Davis refuses to waive his $4.7 million trade kicker.
Their final push to reach the target cap space may come in the form of multiple deals that send Mo Wagner, Jemerrio Jones and Isaac Bonga to other teams per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
If things fall properly into place in the coming weeks, Irving could be the final piece to the puzzle that brings the championship back in L.A.
