“No one is scared of them if you swap out Russell Westbrook and put Kyrie Irving on the team” - Anonymous NBA executive believes LA Lakers won’t be better with Kyrie
For Russell Westbrook, the offseason included trade rumors day in and day out. A potential Myles Turner and Buddy Hield trade was being considered a serious topic of discussion just days prior to the start of training camp.
However, earlier in the season, Kyrie Irving was propped up to go to LA after Kevin Durant asked to be traded and Irving failed to reach an agreement with the Nets over an extension.
None of that happened, but as an anonymous executive pointed out to Heavy.com's Sean Deveney, if it were to happen, no one around the league would bat an eye:
“No one is scared of them if you swap out Russell Westbrook and put Kyrie Irving on the team.”
However true the above statement might be, Jovan Buha, Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic reported earlier this month that a trade was unlikely to take place. The report stated:
"The Nets made clear they had no intention to move Irving and ultimately resolved Kevin Durant’s trade request to continue building their championship hopes around All-Stars in Irving, Durant and Ben Simmons.
Inside the Los Angeles Lakers seriously considering a blockbuster trade on eve of training camp, the franchise’s internal collaborative debates, and the possibilities that exist in the coming weeks and months.
At @TheAthletic with @sam_amick, @jovanbuha: theathletic.com/3651933/2022/1…
The report also said:
"As for the prospect of adding Irving via free agency next summer, sources say he’s currently not a part of the Lakers’ long-term plans."
Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook's contracts line up perfectly, but more star power is not what the Lakers need
When Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets reportedly didn't reach an agreement over an extension in the offseason, the predominant narrative around Irving was a potential trade to the Lakers.
Russell Westbrook performed abysmally during the 2021-22 season, and shooting and scoring at the point guard position was just what the Lakers needed. LeBron James and Irving, a duo that won the championship in 2016, would also have reunited.
However, whether or not any significant negotiations between the the two front-offices took place is disputed. Irving opted into his $36.5 million player-option, and Westbrook opted into his $47 million player option.
"At the end of the day, we're happy that Kyrie is back here...listening to his press conference that he had this morning, and my takeaway from that is that he's committed"
- Sean Marks discusses Kyrie Irving's contract and what that means for the player this season https://t.co/wzBAquI2RL
The narrative since then has been that the Lakers are primed to sign Irving next season, should they want to do so. This is primarily due to the Lakers' lack of scoring and shooting, with Irving and Westbrook's contracts lining up.
Both Irving and Westbrook are in the final year of their max deals, and both will become free agents next summer. They are in a similar position to the extent that their teams lack faith in their play on the court.
Dumping Westbrook's contract would open up a significant amount of cap space and enough money for a Kyrie Irving-sized max deal.
But Irving is not what the Lakers should want. For starters, the Lakers won the NBA championship just two seasons ago, with LeBron James and Anthony Davis as their only bona fide superstars.
The 2020 Lakers had everything they lacked last season: depth, wings, shooting, defense and young players.
They ended up trading all of that for Russell Westbrook, a decision that has since been propounded to be grounds for firing general manager Rob Pelinka. However, things in LA seem to be confounding on all fronts, as Pelinka recently inked a four-year deal with the Lakers.
What the Lakers need is depth, but their lack of draft capital, competent players, and supposed stinginess around the 2027 and '29 draft picks makes them a very desperate customer in the trade market with very little to give.