NBA Rumors: Kyrie Irving Wants Mavericks Return amid LeBron James, Lakers Buzz

Amid ongoing speculation he might be looking to join the Los Angeles Lakers, Kyrie Irving is apparently more interested in remaining with the Dallas Mavericks.

On the latest episode of his podcast with Chris Haynes (h/t HoopsHype.com), NBA insider Marc Stein said Irving "wants to stay in Dallas" in part because he's "tired of the narrative that he's trying to get his, you know, force his way to the Lakers."

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported earlier this week that Irving had reached out to LeBron James to see if the Lakers star would want to join him in Dallas.

Following up on that report, Bill Reiter of CBS Sports noted Irving and James are playing a "misguided" leverage game in a possible attempt to force the Lakers' hand at signing Irving.

"LeBron's not going to Dallas," one source told Reiter. "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."

Stein echoed Reiter's sentiment, noting Irving's attempt to reach out to James may have been about him trying to "establish himself as having value to the Mavs both on and off the court."

James wasn't shy about saying he wanted to play with Irving again. He sent out this tweet after the Brooklyn Nets traded the eight-time All-Star to Dallas.

Even if James wanted to play in Dallas, there's virtually no way for the Mavs to offer enough in a trade that would entice the Lakers. They gave up their best role players to acquire Irving.

The only way Los Angeles could afford to sign Irving is by essentially getting rid of everyone on the current roster except James, Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves.

ESPN's Bobby Marks noted the Lakers can create $30.5 by "waiving Jarred Vanderbilt, Mo Bamba, not exercising Malik Beasley's team option and renouncing free agents D'Angelo Russell, Lonnie Walker IV and Rui Hachimura." But even that wouldn't get them up to Irving's nearly $47 million starting salary on a max deal.

The Mavericks have every incentive to bring back Irving, even though this season didn't end well after they acquired him in February.

Luka Dončić is entering the second season of his five-year, $215.2 million contract. If the Mavs have another disappointing season in 2023-24 with no indication things are getting better, the 24-year-old superstar could try to force his way out of Dallas.

Irving's talent makes him a tantalizing fit to play alongside Dončić, but he's an extremely volatile personality for a franchise to trust. The 31-year-old hasn't played more than 60 games in a season since 2018-19.

Dallas finished this season with a 38-44 record, its first time under .500 since Dončić's rookie year in 2018-19 (33-49).