Lakers: LA Insider Explains Why Team Should Pursue Acquiring Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving has until Wednesday to decide whether or not to opt into the final year of contract with the Brooklyn Nets. Rumors have swirled all week as reports have flown about Kyrie's desire to explore a sign and trade. The prospect of Irving continuing his NBA career elsewhere, away from Kevin Durant, and the Nets, now seems like a real possibility. 

This is a guard who elected to play just 29 games this season, largely due to his stance on getting vaccinated in order to play home games in the state of New York. 

This is an All-NBA caliber guard who's played for three different teams in the last six years. 

He's unpredictable and unreliable, but if he is available to be acquired, The Athletic's Bill Oram believes that the Lakers have left themselves no choice but to add one of the most perplexing players in the NBA.

"If there’s one player in the league who can get the best – and, critically, the most – out of Irving, it figures to be LeBron. ...Yes, the Lakers should want Irving. No, they shouldn’t feel particularly good about the fact they really have no choice. Even with the enthusiasm surrounding new head coach Darvin Ham, a Lakers team relying on Westbrook offers little hope of a deep playoff run."

Oram likened the Lakers adding Kyrie to a gambler doubling down out of desperation, not out of intellect. 

"Like a gambler chasing their next big win or an addict in search of the next high, the Lakers have to keep grasping for something that will keep them at or near the top, even if it means losing control of their own destiny in the process."

Lakers fans and the basketball world will find out how desperate the Lakers front office is in the coming days.