Draymond: Even with Kyrie, Lakers wouldn’t beat Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
It officially is the NBA offseason, but Draymond Green takes no time off.
Fresh off winning his fourth NBA championship, Green weighed in on a division rival’s chances next season – if they add what would be a key piece. If the Los Angeles Lakers were to acquire Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets, as rumors have suggested, Green thinks they’ll be title contenders.
But Green said the Lakers still wouldn’t beat the Warriors.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Green also shared some thoughts on Irving’s leadership abilities and how he would fit with LeBron James.
“With LeBron, if you give him someone like Kyrie…they’ll have a chance because of the way Kyrie can score the basketball,” Green told Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw. “LeBron will only put him in position to do that. Kyrie has not proven to be a great leader. LeBron will put an umbrella over that. If you can do what you’re good at, you have LeBron leading.”
Green added: “They could contend, but they won’t beat us.”
Irving, of course, was teammates with James on the Cleveland Cavaliers and the two helped bring a championship to Cleveland in 2016 at the expense of the 73-win Warriors.
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The two have taken different paths since then, with Irving bouncing around to the Boston Celtics and then the Nets. James, meanwhile, signed with the Lakers in 2018.
Irving reuniting with James on the Lakers looks unlikely at the moment, given that he would have to turn down a $36.5 player option and then take a major pay cut to join the Lakers.
And even if he did, Green believes the defending champions would still have the upper hand.
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