Kyrie Irving Rumors: LeBron, Mavs Buzz Seen as PG Saying Lakers Won't Get Discount

Kyrie Irving and LeBron James are reportedly playing the media game in an attempt to team up this summer.

Bill Reiter of CBS Sports reported Irving and James are attempting to play a "misguided" leverage game to force the Los Angeles Lakers' hand into acquiring the All-Star guard this summer.

"LeBron's not going to Dallas," one source said. "That doesn't even make sense. This is about Kyrie telling (Lakers general manager) Rob (Pelinka) that he's not taking a discount. And about LeBron trying to create some leverage."

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Irving has reached out to James in an attempt to coax him into heading to Dallas. That has virtually no chance of happening with James under contract with the Lakers and the team being highly unlikely to trade the four-time MVP for what the Mavericks can offer and even unlikelier to offer a buyout.

Irving will be a free agent in July, which gives him an easier path to Los Angeles, but that's not without significant complications. Unless Irving was willing to take significantly less than his max salary, Mavericks and Lakers would have to agree to a sign-and-trade, which would almost certainly have to include D'Angelo Russell also agreeing to his own sign-and-trade to be part of the deal.

The NBA's new collective bargaining agreement also places significant restrictions on the league's richest teams, making it virtually impossible to carry three players of James, Irving and Anthony Davis' max-salary levels without significant penalties.

If Irving does not want to take any type of discount to play with the Lakers, the overwhelming likelihood is that he and James will not get their dream of running things back. The financial math just doesn't work, and there's little chance that the Mavs will hand Irving over without getting a significant haul in return.

The smart money is on Irving being in Dallas and James remaining in Los Angeles this offseason.