Less than one week after the Golden State Warriors won the NBA title and mere days away from theย 2022 draft, the offseason chatter around some of the league’s biggest stars is heating up.
The Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers โ two teams with gigantic payrolls that failed to live up to expectations โ are at the center of the latest free agency reports.
One potential big-name free agent isย Kyrie Irving, who has a June 29 deadline on his $36.9 million player option for the 2022-23 season. Conversations about his future in Brooklyn have gone stagnant. “An impasse currently exists among the parties” and that “clears the way” for Irving to “consider the open marketplace,” per The Athletic.
Could we really see the seven-time All-Star playing somewhere else next season? And if so, where?
One idea is picking up a lot of steam โ reuniting with former teammate LeBron James on the Lakers.
Irving and James played together with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2014 to 2017, reaching three NBA Finals and defeating the Golden State Warriors to capture the NBA title in 2015-16. In those three seasons alongside James, Irving averaged 22.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game.
A potential departure of Irving would be challenging for Brooklyn due to its limited ability to replace him. What’s more, the Nets owe $111 million to six other players in 2022-23, so filling out the roster with minimum salaries would put them over the projected salary cap of $122 million.
That said, if L.A. is seriously interested in acquiring the 30-year-old star, Irving would most likely have to opt in to facilitate a trade, because the Lakers can’t clear enough cap space to sign him themselves, per sources.
In addition to the Lakers, the New York Knicksย andย the LA Clippersย are also thought to be potential destinations for Irving.
Whether Irving would be a good fit with the Lakers is an open question, but Nick Wright isn’t surprised by the chatter, and he said so on “First Things First.”
“Who could’ve seen this coming?” Wright said. “Except for anybody paying attention. Do you think people in Brooklyn have enjoyed the last few years? โฆ I think a Kyrie-LeBron reunion would be fun. I think Kyrie going across the bridge and playing for the team in New York that has fans would be fun, and I think a Kyrie-Kawhi Leonard locker room would be unbelievable.”
And Shannon Sharpe said on “Undisputed” that he wasn’t sure the Lakers could make a trade for Irving work.
“I can see the Lakers…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at FOX Sports Digitalโฆ