The 7 Teams Who Benefit Most from Kyrie Irving’s Trade Request

3. Los Angeles Lakers

If you think national writers pull stuff out of thin air to jeopardize their relationships and tarnish their credibility just to get clicks, then of course there’s no truth whatsoever to the reports LeBron is considering Los Angeles as a destination next summer.

If you think Kyrie leaving Cleveland helps LeBron’s chances of staying, you’re in denial.

So what do the Lakers have to entice LeBron?

They wouldn’t have a good chance of beating the Warriors, but at this point, how much worse would it be than Cleveland in 2018 and beyond?

The Lakers have a young rising core and have kept their finances in check in order to add two stars next summer.

If the Lakers add a guy like Paul George or a player close to his caliber to Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and a promising cast of role players, suddenly the case becomes much stronger for LeBron to head out West.

George’s desire to join the Lakers was no secret, but maybe he’ll want to re-sign with OKC after spending a full season with Russell Westbrook.

Some have even suggested the Lakers could add George and Westbrook in 2018. It’d be tough to pull off, but that duo would give LeBron the most reason to join and best chance to beat Golden State if the Lakers make it happen.

Los Angeles recently signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a one-year deal. He’s good friends with LeBron and shares the same agent, Rich Paul.

Perhaps Carmelo Anthony opts out of his contract next summer and heads to LA for a discount to join LeBron. Maybe Dwyane Wade tags along. The Banana Boat crew’s best opportunity of coming together is in Los Angeles.

But they’d also have a pair of top two picks to join.

If Ingram shows he’s ready to take the next step and Ball lets his game do more of the talking than his dad, the Los Angeles scenario is not as far fetched as some would like to believe – especially now that one of the major reasons LeBron had to stay in Cleveland wants out.

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