Kyrie Irving has done wonders for the state of the Dallas Mavericks. When the team traded for him before last season’s NBA trade deadline, it did not immediately yield the results they desired. The team dropped from a playoff spot to the outside of the dance altogether, missing out on the postseason.
This one just required some time and patience to really pay dividens. The Mavericks spent the offseason building up the team around him and superstar Luka Dončić. They then doubled down and acquired even more help before this year’s trade deadline when they traded for Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington.
Now, the team is on their way to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011 after surviving a tough journey through the Western Conference during the NBA Playoffs. The Mavericks can certainly look back and feel like they have won this trade by a metric mile.
There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Dallas would be nowhere near the finals without Irving lifting them up as Luka’s co-star. He executed his role flawlessly beside the Slovenian superstar.
One team that is likely watching this, wondering what could have been, is the Los Angeles Lakers. At the 2023 trade deadline, the Lakers were in on the sweepstakes to acquire Irving, just like the Mavericks. Thanks to ESPN Reporter Dave McMenamin, the world now knows what the Lakers’ offer was.
The Brooklyn Nets decided to pass, accepting the offer from the Mavericks instead, and the rest, as they say, is history.
NBA Big Three That Never Was
There is an alternate universe with a Lakers superteam
There could be another timeline where the star talents of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Irving came together on the Lakers to form the NBA’s newest big three. Look away, Lakers fans, because this could have worked.
Everyone knows the history of James and Irving playing together for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The pair won a ring together back in 2016, erasing the 3-1 lead held by the Golden State Warriors, with one of the best displays in a Finals series from a duo one will ever see.
LeBron and Kyrie: 2016 Finals Stats | ||
---|---|---|
Category | James | Irving |
PPG | 29.7 | 27.1 |
RPG | 11.3 | 3.9 |
APG | 8.9 | 3.9 |
FG% | 49.4 | 46.8 |
3P% | 37.1 | 40.5 |
That pairing was a proven, championship-caliber commodity. As was the partnership between Davis and James. Theoretically, there is no reason to believe the trio would not have made it work. Before Dončić, James felt like the only running mate where Irving was truly at his best.
James, Davis, and Irving all have complementary skill sets to each other. The work it would have taken to blend these stars’ games together would likely have been minimal. The Lakers may have suffered at first, similarly to the Mavericks, due to the lack of depth on the roster. However, given an offseason to load up the roster with quality role players, they might have been able to, similarly, piece it all together.
Truly, this must be an agonizing thought experiment for Lakers fans, management, and players alike.