KYRIE Irving and Trae Young have watched the Los Angeles Lakers in action during the 2023 NBA Playoffs again, sending fans into a frenzy.
Both star point guards sat courtside during Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals — just as the Lakers benched D'Angelo Russell for the key playoff clash against the Denver Nuggets.
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Russell's future with the Lakers has become murky amid his disappointing performance in the conference finals.
The former No. 2 pick averaged a poor 7.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in the first three games against the Nuggets as the Purple and Gold fell 3-0 down.
With the Lakers pushed to the brink of a sweep, head coach Darvin Ham decided to bench the guard in Game 4 in an attempt to shake things up and galvanize his team.
Just a day earlier, ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported he could see Irving — who was traded by the Brooklyn Nets to the Dallas Mavericks in February — "ready to come to the Lakers," adding to the notion Los Angeles might be on the lookout for a new point guard.
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And seeing Irving and Young attending Game 4 on Monday, NBA fans started connecting the dots — particularly as both stars had showed up at Crypto.com Arena earlier in the 2023 playoffs.
One tweeted: "One of them might be starting for the purple and gold next season I fear."
Another wrote: "Kyrie really been scouting the Lakers for the last couple months."
A third added: "Obviously the whole 'Kyrie at Lakers games' angle is going to be played in the media at every opportunity…but Trae Young being to multiple Lakers home playoff games?!
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"That’s something of note, considering his situation in Atlanta being at least under thought."
One said: "Kyrie clearly wants to be a Laker and has let it be known... now Trae is interesting not sure what’s going on there."
And another tweeted: "They’re both competing for being a Laker next season."
Rumors about Irving wanting to reunite with LeBron James on the Lakers have been doing rounds for over a year now.
And Young's potential exit from the Atlanta Hawks became more likely after the team changed its head coach in the middle of the season, prompting suggestions the franchise might be considering a rebuild.
However, the Hawks star has a contract tying him down to Atlanta until at least 2027.
Meanwhile, both Irving and Russell will become free agents this summer.
Los Angeles should have about $30million in available cap space in the upcoming free agency.
The Lakers can already start working on their 2023-24 roster as they fell 113-111 to the Nuggets in Game 4, crashing out of the playoffs.
