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NBA Rumors: 5 destinations for unhappy Kyrie Irving

By John Buhler

Jan 12, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) in action during the game against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. The Cavaliers defeat the Mavericks 110-107 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 12, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) in action during the game against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. The Cavaliers defeat the Mavericks 110-107 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 8, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) dribbles the ball around Los Angeles Lakers forward Nick Young (0) in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 8, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) dribbles the ball around Los Angeles Lakers forward Nick Young (0) in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

West. Pacific. Los Angeles Lakers. 3. player. 20.

With Kobe Bryant riding off into the sunset at the end of this season, the Los Angeles Lakers will likely court another superstar player to replace him for the 2016-17. Even though general manager Mitch Kupchak has drafted well the last few years to bring an interesting young corps for head coach Byron Scott to not play, if the Lakers are able to land a superstar talent, all of those pieces are expendable.

Since this is a point guard driven league, might the Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving make sense for the Purple and Gold to build their next great team around? Los Angeles probably wouldn’t have a problem with having another alpha male ball handler lead their team back to greatness. Irving’s unhappiness in Cleveland could mean good things for the Lakers if the All-Star point guard winds up in Los Angeles.

Not that the Lakers would have to send all of their young players Cleveland’s way in a trade, but Irving in the starting lineup with Jordan Clarkson at the two, Larry Nance, Jr. at the three, and Julius Randle at the four sounds like a young up-and-coming team that could be going places as early as 2017.

One has to believe that the Lakers will stop tanking as soon as they have a player in place that can lead the team in the way that Bryant did for 20 years. While going to the Western Conference will certainly hurt Irving’s NBA Championship chances, he would be able to have his own team to lead again if he were to go to the Lakers. He’s already had to replace a living legend in Cleveland when LeBron initially left, so how hard could it be to try to replace Kobe in sunny Los Angeles with the Lakers?

Next: 2. Milwaukee Bucks

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