The Los Angeles Lakers had a chance to add a third star alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis last summer, but chose a different approach instead.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN appeared on the Wednesday, June 5 edition of the network’s morning program “Get Up,” during which he reported that the Lakers could have cleared the necessary salary cap space to reunite James with Kyrie Irving in L.A. last offseason but prioritized the re-signing of Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and D’Angelo Russell.
“Last summer, Kyrie actively wanted LeBron to come to Dallas. LeBron wanted Kyrie to come to the Lakers. Now, LeBron going to Dallas, he’s under contract, that’s not feasible,” Windhorst said. “When it was relayed to me … that Kyrie wanted LeBron in Dallas, I went and checked on it. Basically LeBron’s side said, ‘We’d love to play with Kyrie — in L.A.’ The Lakers actually could have created the cap space to beat the [Dallas] Mavericks‘ offer last year, but they elected not to. They elected to re-sign the players from the team that had just gotten to the Western Conference Finals.”
Irving ended up signing a three-year deal worth $120 million to remain in Dallas, which keeps him under contract through 2025-26 but also includes a player option for that final season.
