Let’s try to trade Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets to the Los Angeles Lakers somehow.
With news of Kyrie Irving potentially opting out of the final year of his Brooklyn Nets deal, everybody’s brain is trying to figure out how the Los Angeles Lakers can trade for him so that he can reunite with LeBron James.
Exhausting, I know, but these two NBA drama queens were made for each other. Together, they did something truly remarkable by giving the mistake on the lake a championship as members of the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers. Irving has not won squat since then, while James has one less-than-stellar Orlando bubble championship in the years that followed. Here is to a great reunion!
If the Lakers are going to trade for Irving, here are what three potential packages could look like.
Kyrie Irving rumors: 3 potential trades to get him onto the Los Angeles Lakers
3. You know what? Let’s do a three-way and get Russell Westbrook back to OKC
Alright, let’s workshop this one a bit, strictly for entertainment purposes. It will be a three-way alright, with Irving reuniting with LeBron on the Lakers, Russell Westbrook is going back to the Oklahoma City Thunder, while Brooklyn will be getting multiple draft picks and other players as compensation. Brooklyn may not be down with this, but this a move that could potentially happen.
In theory, the Lakers will be happier with Kyrie and LeBron reunited and it feels so good. Oklahoma City is going to be terrible again next season, but Westbrook can do Westbrook things in the place he is still seen as a living legend. As far as Brooklyn is concerned, they can build a new core around Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons, while using other assets to acquire a third star, maybe draft one?
The biggest problem with this deal is Brooklyn can do far better than picking up merely draft picks.
2. Kyrie Irving for Anthony Davis, straight up. Deal Russell Westbrook elsewhere
This may not be the trade Lakers fans would be hoping for, but it has to be put on the table. Anthony Davis has not risen to the occasion in LeBron James’ time of need. The man was shamed out of not shooting a basketball for nearly two months. If a guy is not taking his game seriously as he is rapidly approaching 30, what will, honestly? This is why parting ways with Davis is possible.
Trading Davis for Irving straight up keeps things simple for the sake of argument, but nothing is as simple as it seems. Davis would actually thrive playing alongside Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons. We all know how great Irving is playing second fiddle to James. As far as Russell Westbrook is concerned, the Lakers may need to trade him somewhere else entirely in a separate deal of sorts.
This move has the potential to make the Lakers better, but moving off Davis carries consequences.
1. Let’s send Russell Westbrook packing, along with a first-rounder to Brooklyn
Without question, the simplest machination of getting Irving to Los Angeles is to send Westbrook to Brooklyn along with whatever future draft compensation makes the dollars and cents make sense. Westbrook and Durant were former Thunder buddies. While the fit with Simmons would be clunky, Westbrook will so be the most-willing shooter Simmons has never wanted to be before.
What this theoretical deal does is reshuffle the deck so the Lakers can go out and realistically contend for a championship with a big three of Davis, Irving and James. It may come back to haunt them, but James needs one more ring in Los Angeles for legacy purposes. Helping Davis and Irving get a second will do wonders for their images. As far as Westbrook is concerned, he is in New York.
Cap complexities are too complicated, but these are the bases for three possible trade scenarios.