Kyrie Irving can join LeBron James at the EXPENSE of Rui Hachimura, LA fans reply “no thanks”

The Los Angeles Lakers might pursue Kyrie Irving in the off season.

Kyrie Irving can join LeBron James at the EXPENSE of Rui Hachimura, LA fans reply “no thanks”

LeBron James and Kyrie Irving and Cleveland Cavaliers teammates (R- Image via Jason Miller/Getty Images) and Rui Hachimura (L- Image via Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The final stages of every NBA season bring a lot of trade rumors along with it. This time around, the suspicions have intensified even more with the retirement of Carmelo Anthony. As the Los Angeles Lakers are on the brink of elimination, fans and critics are coming up with theories. LeBron James is known to recruit players from across the league to solidify the Lakers roster. However, this time, the rumors involve his former teammate Kyrie Irving and the young Lakers talent Rui Hachimura.

Kyrie Irving had a rough season this year. His season started with the Brooklyn Nets where his team-up with Kevin Durant met a rather anticlimactic end. Irving then went to the Dallas Mavericks to play alongside Luka Doncic. Unfortunately for him, the Mavericks suffered a shocking collapse as they failed to make the Playoffs after a promising mid-season status on the table. Since many speculate Irving wants to find a new home, his reunion with LeBron James has become a hot topic.

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Kyrie Irving signed a four-year $198.5 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets. Although he was traded to Dallas, Irving is now an unrestricted free agent for the 2023-24 NBA season. If he were to, the guard could be an expensive contract to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers. In analysis, this could force them to let go of a few players in order to make room in their salary cap space. This includes young promising players such as Rui Hachimura and/or Austin Reaves.

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ESPN analyst Brian Windhorst explained the result of Irving signing with the Lakers. “To do it, they would have to pretty much jettison everybody they just picked up, including Rui Hachimura,” he said. “They’d have to probably waive Malik Beasley. There are sign-and-trade scenarios where if they could get Dallas’ cooperation and maybe sweeten that pot for them, that they could keep more of their roster together.”

Related: “I don’t see the end” – Skip Bayless DISMISSES LeBron James’ doubters amidst Lakers 3-0 hole 

Los Angeles Lakers respond to trade rumors

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Kyrie Irving (L- AP Photo/Hakim Wright Sr) and Rui Hachimura (R- Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)

With rumors of a Kyrie Irving-LeBron James team-up, Los Angeles Laker fans aren’t very pleased. The Lakers fandom has grown to be very fond of players like Hachimura. Moreover, after Irving’s disastrous run with the Mavericks, not a lot of fans seem to have faith in the guard. Some fans have taken to Twitter to express their disapproval of the suspected trade. Here are some reactions:

https://twitter.com/betpickle/status/1660691839274369024?s=20
https://twitter.com/washedtae/status/1660686549003141120?s=20

Although there is no official word on the likelihood of such a trade, there’s no doubt that the Lakers fans are not very keen on it. Moreover, Kyrie Irving might also have many other teams in his pursuit.

On the other hand, many believe that LeBron James would retain most of the current Lakers roster and play an entire season. While we wait to see how the trade rumors pan out, it will be interesting to see where Irving ends up going next season.

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