If you believe the reports, the Kyrie Irving and Kevin Duran experiment has come to an end in Brooklyn.
The Nets reportedly have gotten tired of the “antics” from Kyrie and don’t see the negatives don’t outweigh the positives anymore for them. He has a $36 million player option he could opt into if he wants to stay with the team and they could still eventually trade him but it seems like he would want to opt out to get a long-term contract.
If he does opt out, and maybe even if he opts in, he will have plenty of suitors and one of them is the Lakers. It’s obvious why the Lakers and Kyrie would love a pairing and Marc Stein of Substack, Kyrie and Lebron have been in contact about a possible reunion.
How would trade with Nets and Lakers work?
That brings me to what I believe is the only truly feasible option for the Lakers being able to put Kyrie Irving alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis: a three-team trade.
In these examples below, the Nets and Lakers are able to rope in a third team to take on the privilege of bringing Westbrook into town. As no team ever makes a trade without at least feeling that they’re getting something in value in return, these clubs join the party to either relieve their salary cap in future seasons or to get future draft picks while they retool and rebuild (or both).
The Hornets (and many of the teams to follow) have been heavily reported to be looking to make trades this offseason. They may (or may not) be re-signing Miles Bridges to a massive contract, and will need to get rid of some money to stomach that type of deal, especially if they’re not expecting to be championship contenders any time soon.
They enter the mix to give the Nets a new on-ball creator in Terry Rozier while offloading Gordon Hayward’s hefty deal that still has two more years remaining. They also throw in P.J. Washington, who isn’t paid heavily now, but will need a new contract in 2023. Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer has reported recently that the Hornets were expected to gauge other teams’ interest in Rozier and Washington while another report from Brian Windhorst has made them seem desperate to deal Hayward in any way possible.
A Lakers first goes to the Hornets for getting nothing in return other than Westbrook, while the other first-rounder goes to the Nets for the simple fact that none of the guys they’re getting back come close to Kyrie’s talent.
It would take a lot of work to get it done but don’t rule it out.
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