How about this “Big Three” for the Lakers: LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Kyrie Irving.
That is a long, long, long way from coming together, but the dreams of Lakers fans are rarely grounded in reality. And there is some fuel for this one. Davis — through his agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports (also LeBron’s agent) — is trying to force his way out of New Orleans and to Los Angeles. To the point of getting fined.
And according to Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report, Kyrie Irving would be good with joining those two in Los Angeles.
While Irving said publicly he would re-sign in Boston, the buzz around the league that he might not has grown throughout the season. The idea that he could join LeBron in Los Angeles, while seemingly farfetched, has had its own strange momentum.
The idea of a LeBron/Davis/Irving big three has been bounced around league circles as well.
Of course, there are a lot of complications here.
If (as expected) the Pelicans do not trade Davis by the Feb. 7 deadline and wait to see what Boston offers, things get complicated for the Lakers. Nearly every observer rates the Celtics’ package of players/picks better, and while Danny Ainge understands Irving may be restless, Ainge also knows if he lines up a trade for AD then Irving will stick around to play with him. That’s the plan (and he’s not worried about Davis’ “only in LA” threats). Ainge could have two of those Lakers’ big three in Celtics’ green.
Also, if the Celtics make a run to the NBA Finals with Irving as the team’s leader and star, is he going to leave? Davis or not?
Finally is a logistical issue: If the Pelicans decide to trade Davis to the Lakers at the deadline, even if the Lakers send out all their young stars and renounce others, Los Angeles will not have enough cap space to offer Irving a full max contract this summer (blame that Luol Deng stretch). It will be reasonably close, but is Irving willing to take a haircut to play with LeBron and Davis?
That’s a lot of things to get in the way of a new potential big three in Los Angeles. Don’t bet on it happening.
But Lakers fans (and maybe their front office) can dream.
