Irving recently opted into the final year of his $36.4 million deal, but is expected to be traded after star teammate Kevin Durant requested a trade from the Nets. “If Kevin Durant is on the first train out, Kyrie Irving will be in the caboose as far as the Nets are concerned,” Brian Windhorst reported earlier this week. It’s coming off a season in which he played just 29 games because he refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and given his previous injury history — Irving hasn’t played 70 games in a season since 2017 when he was still with the Cleveland Cavaliers — – The market for the mercurial guard is understandably not as strong as Durant’s. The Lakers, however, have very little to lose. Irving represents their best chance to add talent this summer and has a past relationship with LeBron James. Both players will hit free agency next season, and the Lakers are trying to wrest another title away from the pairing of LeBron and Anthony Davis. Irving has his fair share of negatives, but on the court he would be a much better fit than Westbrook and would greatly increase the Lakers’ title chances. Of course, trading Westbrook is much easier said than done. The Lakers have been trying to do that since the middle of last season, just months after they originally acquired him. He recently opted out of the final year of his $47 million contract, which makes a trade logistically difficult. Plus there’s the fact that he’s past his prime, but still needs the ball in his hands more often than not to be effective. Check the opt-in box to confirm you want to join.
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There really aren’t any situations that make sense in basketball, but the Nets are in a bad spot after Durant’s request and might be willing to take Westbrook on an expiring contract if they can move Irving and coax some concessions from the Lakers. In particular, the Nets will be willing to acquire some draft picks given how much they owe the Houston Rockets in the coming years via the James Harden trade. According to Haynes, the compensation plan is currently one of the biggest sticking points in closing a deal. The Lakers also have a number of future draft picks through the Anthony Davis deal and were previously unwilling to attach future first-round picks to move Westbrook. If they can get Irving, though, he might be worth the price. In addition, the teams apparently do not agree on the other players to participate. Most notably, the Nets want to move Joe Harris, who has two years and $38.6 million on his contract and is coming off ankle surgery, while the Lakers are pushing for Seth Curry. It doesn’t appear that a deal is imminent at this point, but if the two sides are this far along in discussions, it might not be long before Irving reunites with LeBron and dons the purple and gold.
