The Los Angles Lakers will not be landing Kyrie Irving despite all the speculation that surfaced since the talented point guard demanded to be traded from the Brooklyn Nets earlier in the week. The Lakers opened as the betting favorites to land Irving, but the Dallas Mavericks were able to swoop into the sweepstakes to land Irving on Sunday. The Lakers championship odds took a hit right away.
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Lakers Championship Odds Drop After Missing Out on Kyrie Irving
Per BetMGM, the Lakers championship odds were boosted from +4000 to +2000 when they were the favorites in a potential Kyrie Irving trade. Those odds went back to +5000 after the Mavericks made the deal for Irving.
The Lakers were reportedly in talks with the Nets about potential packages but were turned off by Irving’s wish of getting a max four-year contract upon the agreement.
“Irving is expected to seek a four-year maximum contract, with the Lakers preferring a two-year deal, aligning with the two years remaining on James’ deal,” LA Times writer Dan Woike reported.
LeBron James was asked about whether or not he felt Irving could improve the Lakers’ championship odds. And while he didn’t want to say too much, James made it clear that he wasn’t opposed to teaming up with Irving again.
“That’s a Rob question,” James said Saturday after the Lakers’ 131-126 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, per ESPN. “You got to see him when y’all get back to L.A. I’ve told y’all a couple weeks, I don’t speak for our front office. My mindset is whatever lineup or whatever group that we have is to make sure we prepare ourselves the best way we can to go out and win. Obviously, that’s a — what’s the word you use — ‘duh’ question when you talk about a player like that.”
Kyrie Irving is currently averaging 27.1 ppg, proving he’s still an elite scorer in the league even after missing time over the past two seasons due to off-the-court opinions and/or comments. Irving will now be teaming up with Luka Doncic and the 28-26 Mavericks, in what should make for an elite one-two punch in Dallas.
The Lakers championship odds certainly reflect that they missed an opportunity by letting another team snatch up Kyrie Irving, but it remains to be seen if Irving can mesh with the Mavs after things ended on a sour note with both the Boston Celtics and Nets.
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