An interesting report surfaced on Monday when it was revealed that Kyrie Irving has been recruiting LeBron James to join him on the Dallas Mavericks.
According to Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, when Irving contacted James and asked him to come to Dallas, James responded that he would “think about it.”
Was told that Kyrie asked LeBron to come to Dallas and play for the Mavs.
LeBron’s reply on the phone was: “I’ll think about it.” https://t.co/3cnC2eekbe pic.twitter.com/Bx4WJy6Y6c
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) June 7, 2023
The report about Irving recruiting James caused some speculation as to what Irving’s true intention was. Some felt he was angling to actually make his way to James’ Los Angeles Lakers, but two sources insisted he wants to remain with the Mavs.
He will become a free agent soon, and many have rumored that he wants to reunite with James. The two won an NBA championship together as members of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and are apparently still friends today.
The Lakers are facing some key decisions on some free agents of their own, particularly D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. Keeping both Reaves and Hachimura seems to be a high priority for the team, and some in the organization also want to retain Russell.
However, Russell played very poorly when Los Angeles got swept in the Western Conference Finals by the Denver Nuggets, leading some to feel that perhaps the team shouldn’t look to keep him in the fold.
If it were to bring in Irving, it could come at the cost of its depth and likely result in a very top-heavy roster with aging, marginal players brought in to round it out. With all the talent across the league these days, such a roster would be hard-pressed to win it all.
James suggested after the Nuggets series that he will think about retiring this offseason, which some have seen as a leverage play to pressure Lakers management into going after Irving. The team tried to trade for him last summer, and again in the middle of this season before the Brooklyn Nets sent him to Texas.
