Despite Their Desperation, The Los Angeles Lakers Should Pass On Kyrie Irving

The Los Angeles Lakers made one of the worst moves in NBA history when they acquired Russell Westbrook. And hopefully they don’t make the same mistake by acquiring Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving.

Amid reports that Irving is at an impasse with the Nets, the Lakers have emerged as one of three possible destinations for the embattled point guard. According to a report by Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks are all possible destinations for Irving.

Irving could either enter free agency this summer or opt into his $36.3 million deal with the Nets for the 2022-23 season. If he picks the latter scenario, Irving would either play the upcoming season for the Nets or force a sign-and-trade to another destination.

Before we even get into why a possible deal for Irving is just about impossible for the Lakers — salary cap issues and an unwillingness to part with a first-round draft pick are major reasons why — let’s get this out of the way: it’s not a good fit.

Yes, the Lakers have point guard issues. But the acquisition of Irving — who is a major liability on defense and holds a $36.3 million cap hit for the 2022-23 season if he opts in — wouldn’t solve all of their issues. Los Angeles would still have to fill out the remainder of their roster with veterans on minimum salary deals — as they did this past season — and Irving’s most recent teams, the Nets and the Boston Celtics, have actually fared better without him on the court compared to when he’s on it.

The Nets were 30-23 without Irving this season and 14-15 with him in the lineup. In other words, the Nets were substantially better without the point guard than they were with him.

Irving would certainly represent an upgrade over the inept Westbrook, but the Nets do not want the 33-year-old point guard in a possible deal for Irving.

That leaves one option — Anthony Davis.

The Lakers have a number of reasons for why they’d trade Davis. The most prominent issue is the fact that the 29-year-old big man is simply very injury prone. Since helping leading the Lakers to an NBA title in 2020, Davis has only been on the court for 76 of a possible 164 games.

That’s not even mentioning how Davis’ strained left groin during the Lakers’ series versus the Suns eventually led to their downfall. Los Angeles was up 2-1 in the series before Davis’ injury in Game 4. The Lakers would eventually lose three straight games and the series.

With that said, the Lakers have proven to be successful with the LeBron James/Davis-led duo. If you surround a ball-dominant forward in James with sharpshooters and Davis can remain on the floor, the Lakers are easily a playoff contender — even in a stacked Western Conference.

While it’s understandable the Lakers would want to start anew with another franchise star, acquiring Irving wouldn’t lead the Lakers much closer to a title than they are now. They made this same mistake when they went for the big acquisition offseason — Westbrook — rather than simply looking to acquire worthwhile role players — Buddy Hield, for example — to surround James and Davis while maintaining their defensive identity.

We’re not even mentioning the fact that Irving desires a long-term contract. Considering the Lakers are dreading the idea of entering a second year with Westbrook, does the franchise really want to commit to the idea of a four-year deal with a 30-year-old point guard who hasn’t been part of a true winning culture since he was a teammate of James five years ago?

Irving jumped on the wagon of a rising Celtics team, only to fail as a leader of the franchise. The Celtics actually fared better in his absence, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals with 20-year-old Jayson Tatum leading the way back in 2018.

Since his highly-hyped arrival with the Nets, Brooklyn has never advanced past the second round of the playoffs. That’s despite teaming up with former MVP’s in Kevin Durant and James Harden.

The Lakers’ best course of action for a quick rebuild is unloading Westbrook via trade or playing out this season — after Westbrook kicks in his $47.4 million player option for the 2022-23 season — with the inefficient star before having the ability to truly make an impact in free agency when their books clear for the 2023 offseason.

Adding Irving to the fold adds even more problems for a longer period of time for a Lakers franchise that simply just needs a restart.