NBA still wonders if Kyrie Irving and the Lakers will wind up together

EL SEGUNDO — At one point, even the players were convinced.

The NBA’s trade rumor winds were picking up earlier this month, and it seemed almost inevitable that Kyrie Irving would be a Laker. Troy Brown Jr. has been in the league long enough to get the feeling that when stars – like his own teammate LeBron James – want something to happen, it seems to happen.

“Yeah, I feel like everybody kind of felt like that,” Brown said at Friday’s practice, looking back on a few of the most tumultuous days this season. “Like, you never know with the trade deadline stuff. Obviously he went to Dallas. But at the end of the day, the NBA, guys are professional regardless of whatever happens. So, I like the guys that we have now.”

The Lakers, as a whole, seem to be pretty happy with the new group they acquired at the deadline: D’Angelo Russell (albeit injured and doubtful for Sunday in Dallas with a sprained ankle), Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Mo Bamba, Davon Reed and Rui Hachimura (counting January trades). Since they’ve brought in their new players, they’re 3-1. Coach Darvin Ham said Friday, “we’ve really improved our roster by leaps and bounds.”

The Lakers’ next opponent, the Dallas Mavericks, also seem to be in an upbeat place. Irving, 30, is inarguably the most talented teammate Luka Doncic has ever had still in his prime. Irving called his pairing with Doncic “a force to be reckoned with” and alluded to the “exciting future” the two have ahead.

In the best possible scenarios, both teams find a rhythm and consistent success in the final stretch of the regular season, and both teams parlay that newfound stability and talent influx into respectable playoff runs.

But what if it doesn’t work out? One of the league’s most popular running rumors is that the Lakers and Irving might still have each other when the summer rolls around.

It might seem a little too soon to restoke the flame underneath the NBA’s hot stove mere weeks after the trade deadline has passed. But James, always willing to sow seeds of intrigue, hasn’t exactly stopped it from happening.

James noted after his first game with the group against the Pelicans that “our skillsets all kind of fit each other.” But he also has gone out of his way to show interest in Irving, from telling ESPN that he was “disappointed” that the Lakers weren’t able to trade for him, to picking Irving on his All-Star roster, to giving an especially laudatory quote about Irving, his former Cleveland teammate, in his post All-Star presser.

“It’s always great to team back up with Kyrie,” James said. “You know how I feel about him both on the court and off the court. It’s always good to see him. I’m very proud of him. Very proud of the man that he has become in his life right now.”

That registered as over-the-top to many NBA observers about Irving, a player who was tied up in anti-vax controversy last season and suspended for sharing an antisemitic movie this season. But in terms of rolling out a welcome mat, it’s harder to be more blunt.

The Athletic reported at the deadline that Irving, who was an admirer and friend of Kobe Bryant, finds an allure to playing as a Laker and following in his footsteps. Since last summer, the Lakers have been interested in trading for Irving, who is averaging 27.1 points, 5.4 assists and 5 rebounds this season. It would go without saying that would require James’ blessing – but James has been more public than most stars in showing his interest already.

One of the aspects general manager Rob Pelinka touted was the “optionality” of the roster, with the vast majority of contracts either expiring this summer or under team control. The Lakers will owe about $87 million (possibly more depending on the salary cap inflation) to James and Davis, and only Vanderbilt ($4.7 million) and Max Christie ($1.7 million) have guaranteed deals beyond this season.

The Lakers will have the ability to pay their own players to come back, potentially pushing their payroll above the cap to go into the tax. But if this season goes south and they lose confidence in their young core that they traded for, they could theoretically renounce all their free-agent cap holds and have roughly $40 million under the estimated $134 million salary cap – enough to chase Irving in free agency, if Dallas doesn’t figure out an extension with him.

It’s not clear how seriously the Lakers’ front office is considering the strategy, especially in the honeymoon phase of their recent deals. Pelinka also stressed, in his deadline recap, how the roster has gotten younger; Irving turns 31 later this month. While he might push the team to a title-contending level, he would also shorten the window – and that’s before considering what off-court drama he could bring with him to L.A.

For now, the Mavericks and Lakers look invested in making the most of this season. James called the final stretch “23 of the most important games of my career,” while Irving asked reporters specifically to not ask him about his future, lest it become a distraction.

“That’s all I can do in this life and what the future holds is really only going to be dictated on what I do right now and how I prepare for those next steps and that’s being the best teammate I can in that locker room, being a great leader out here within the Dallas community, within the NBA and just continuing to be myself and develop,” Irving said as he was introduced. “So just putting that to bed and just focusing on what we have ahead as a team.”

Even if no one’s asking, however, there will be plenty of people watching and wondering as the summer draws near.