After being knocked out of the NBA playoffs by the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers will have some tough decisions to make during the offseason as the storied franchise tries to keep their squad intact while also adding pieces to the championship puzzle.
The team’s primary concern moving forward is whether superstar forward LeBron James wants to continue his playing career after he said he’d consider retirement this summer.
Although most people don’t believe James will walk away from the game without a farewell tour, it’s still a possibility, so the team’s job from here on out will be to put the best team possible around him to convince him to stay for at least one more season.
It seems as though the one area the team intends to upgrade is the point guard position, with two big-name players already being mentioned as potential targets for Los Angeles in Fred VanVleet and Kyrie Irving, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic via NBA Central.
Kyrie Irving and Fred VanVleet have to be at the top of available options this off-season for the Lakers, per @ShamsCharania
(Via @PatMcAfeeShow ) pic.twitter.com/613btLJZDa
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) May 25, 2023
VanVleet has been rumored to be on his way out of the Toronto Raptors for quite some time, so it is no surprise he’d be linked to the Lakers, as winning might be his top priority now.
As for Irving, the Lakers have been linked to the superstar guard for years and now have a real chance of landing him, as he’s set to hit NBA free agency this summer and made a point of it to be seen watching playoff games at Crypto.com Arena.
Both of these guards are viable options for Los Angeles, but it remains to be seen if either player ending up with the Lakers is realistic or plausible.
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