{"id":109882,"date":"2024-11-30T11:07:31","date_gmt":"2024-11-30T16:07:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=109882"},"modified":"2024-11-30T11:07:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-30T16:07:31","slug":"mavs-kyrie-irving-still-lakers-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/30\/mavs-kyrie-irving-still-lakers-cards\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Mavs\u2019 Kyrie Irving Still In Lakers\u2019 Cards?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dallas Mavericks guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/irvinky01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyrie Irving<\/a> sent the interwebs into a frenzy this week, acting out a scene in which he was traded to Los Angeles Lakers on Kai Cenat\u2019s highly popular stream. Irving could\u2019ve just been engaging in hi-jinx as Cenat\u2019s encouragement. Yet, even without The Undertaker-themed music in the background, there was a certain seriousness to it.<\/p>\n<h2>Is Mavs\u2019 Kyrie Irving Still In Lakers\u2019 Cards?<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cAlright, so what\u2019s the next move? I\u2019m leaving?,&#8221; Irving begins. \u201cIt&#8217;s gonna be Los Angeles? I understand.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Kyrie Irving shows off his acting skills and acts out a fake phone call from his agent telling him he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers \ud83d\ude2d <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BXovI5x4vd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/BXovI5x4vd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 ryan \ud83e\udd3f (@scubaryan_) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/scubaryan_\/status\/1862391251380625772?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 29, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much they paying? That number&#8217;s not right. It&#8217;s L.A., what you talking about?\u2026 So you telling me [it\u2019s] not guaranteed? You know my body though. You know my resume\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Irving\u2019s impromptu acting session was illuminating, not just entertaining. As a player who has been traded twice, it\u2019s possible that he\u2019s speaking from experience. Him deciding to enact a scenario in which he\u2019s offered a contract that\u2019s non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed is also thought-provoking. Though his reputation around the league is generally positive, he isn\u2019t too far removed from facing intense scrutiny and vehement criticism.<\/p>\n<p>In the big picture, the question is whether there really is a chance he gets traded. If so, would the Lakers be on the other end of the call?<\/p>\n<h3>Why Would The Mavs Trade Him?<\/h3>\n<p>Irving is considered <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/22\/mavs-kyrie-irving-remain-what-price\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a locker room leader<\/a> in Dallas, not just an elite player. With how well his Mavs tenure has gone on and off the court, it\u2019s difficult to envision him being traded in the near future. However, while Irving has made the team stronger \u2014in fact, Dallas reached the NBA Finals this summer \u2014it\u2019s not all peaches and cream in the Lone Star State.<\/p>\n<p>The primary issue with Irving is, in terms of their defense, he and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doncilu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luka Doncic<\/a> aren\u2019t an ideal fit. Irving and, to some extent, Doncic have improved their effort at that end. Nonetheless, neither are reliable on-ball or off-ball. Similar to the Atlanta Hawks with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/y\/youngtr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trae Young<\/a> or the Milwaukee Bucks with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lillada01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damian Lillard<\/a>, the Mavs may need to put an elite defender beside Doncic.<\/p>\n<h3>Are The Lakers A Realistic Option?<\/h3>\n<p>If Dallas wanted to pair Doncic with a backcourt player that\u2019s a consistent difference-maker on defense, L.A. has a couple, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/reddica01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cam Reddish<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vincega01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gabe Vincent<\/a> both meet the criteria. Reddish is superior to Vincent, in terms of his athleticism and activity. The problem is that neither are particularly reliable on offense.<\/p>\n<p>Still, if Irving is traded, the Mavs could promote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/grimequ01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Quentin Grimes<\/a>. A 3-and-D wing coached by Houston Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson and New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, his skillset complements Doncic\u2019s. This season, he\u2019s averaging 12.8 points per game on 42.3 percent shooting from three as a starter.<\/p>\n<p>What Irving provides as a scorer will need to be replaced though. Both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dinwisp01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spencer Dinwiddie<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hardyja02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaden Hardy<\/a> would likely step up after his departure. Still, Los Angeles seemingly has to come with a better offer than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/russeda01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">D\u2019Angelo Russell<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hachiru01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rui Hachimura<\/a> to really move the needle. To that point, Irving might just be talented enough to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/14\/lakers-rumors-teams-plans-for-austin-reaves-revealed\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">make them finally budge<\/a> on trading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/reaveau01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Austin Reaves<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a> has shown, he can\u2019t be the team\u2019s only reliable on-ball scorer on the perimeter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving sent the interwebs into a frenzy this week, acting out a scene in which he was traded to Los Angeles Lakers on Kai Cenat\u2019s highly popular stream. Irving could\u2019ve just been engaging in hi-jinx as Cenat\u2019s encouragement. Yet, even without The Undertaker-themed music in the background, there was a certain [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":109910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1608,30,62,4721],"tags":[406,4774],"class_list":["post-109882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lakers","category-basketball","category-mavericks","category-nba","category-trade-rumors","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-rumors"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}