In the week leading up to this year’s NBA Trade Deadline it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Kyrie Irving would be acquired by the Los Angeles Lakers.
All sides seemed interested..
Before the clock struck 12 on deadline day, though – the Brooklyn Nets decided to trade Irving to the Dallas Mavericks instead.
This week further clarity emerged on why precisely that Irving-to-Los Angeles deal never materialized.
As it turns out, there was one player that was off-limits as far as the Lakers were concerned.
“That’s the sense I’ve gotten,” Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported. “You touched on some of the Brooklyn stuff. I’ll add to that very briefly. You touched on those other tradable assets the Lakers had that the Nets wanted.
“Austin Reaves was one of those guys that came up. I heard among the people who wanted to keep Austin in LA was Jeanie Buss. That’s a good advocate to have on your side if you’re a Laker.”
Reaves is an incredibly talented role player whose courtside swagger with the ladies is immense. He is currently averaging nearly 12 points per game on 51.1 percent shooting from the field and nearly 39 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Are those numbers good enough to keep him out of a trade for a future Hall of Famer like Irving? Apparently so.
Irving has made it clear that he is pretty salty about the Lakers not trading for him, and it’s easy why. Particularly when it genuinely feels like they chose Reaves over him.
The Lakers’ final trade proposal to the Nets for Irving is a matter of public record. Whether it was better or worse than what they eventually got from the Mavericks is for everyone to decide on their own.
Devin Booker fires back. https://t.co/Pi6Fo8xElQ
— Game 7 (@game7__) March 17, 2023
The next year will ultimately determine whether L.A. made the right call or not here.
If Reaves helps the Lakers win a championship or come close to it, then obviously not giving him up for Irving will have been the right move.
Should the Lakers struggle, then maybe getting Irving at any cost was the smarter path forward.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
