If the Lakers acquire Kyrie Irving, they're certainly in a strong position to contend for the 2024 NBA championship, especially if they re-sign Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. If James convinces Irving to team up in Los Angeles, then the Mavs may have no choice but to acquiesce so they won't come away empty-handed. Nevertheless, the Lakers have James' clout working in their favor. The Mavs, after dealing away two important members of their rotation, in addition to a first-round pick, for Irving will surely want to re-sign the mercurial point guard, if only to protect their investment. The Lakers may have to bring out The Darkhold to convince the Dallas Mavericks to a sign-and-trade involving Kyrie Irving and D'Angelo Russell. Here are 3 trade targets for the Lakers with that in mind. Those three players (the first two especially) played such an instrumental part in filling in the Lakers' need for shooting, playmaking, and defense.Ĭan the Lakers front office conjure some magic once again in the hopes of acquiring pieces that, this time, would push the Purple and Gold into the title-contending picture? Instead of taking the Pacers deal, they waited until the last second for a trade that wouldn't have required them to give up two first-rounders, dealing away Russell Westbrook and a top-four protected first rounder in 2027 for D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley. In the end, the Lakers front office remained patient. The caveat, however, was that the Lakers must relinquish their 20 first-round picks without any protections, effectively gutting the team's already-depleted treasure chest of picks even further.
And a big reason behind their remarkable mid-season turnaround was the blockbuster trade they pulled off during the NBA trade deadline.įor much of the season, plenty of journalists linked the Lakers to a potential trade for the Indiana Pacers' duo of Myles Turner and Buddy Hield in exchange for the expiring contract of Russell Westbrook.
In spite of this, the Lakers made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals. (It's only fitting that the Lakers won their last game of the season against the Warriors.) 500 until Maa grand total of 162 days from their season-opening loss against the Golden State Warriors. For a great part of the season, it looked like another twilight year in LeBron James' career would go to waste, as the Lakers had a record below.
The Los Angeles Lakers went through a rollercoaster of a 2022-23 season.
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