“The Nets are absolutely sick of the Kyrie Irving experience, the Lakers are sick of the Russell Westbrook experience” - Bill Oram believes a potential Russell Westbrook-Kyrie Irving trade is not totally “nuts”
NBA superstars Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook's future with the franchise continues to be up in the air. The duo have had tough seasons for their teams and the results of the franchises have been indicative of this.
However, according to Bill Oram of The Athletic, who appeared on the "Colin Cowherd Show," there is a possibility that the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers could engage in a trade for Irving and Westbrook. Oram said:
"I don’t think it’s nuts. I don’t know that it’s going to happen, but from a logical standpoint it makes sense. From a logical standpoint, the Nets are absolutely sick of the Kyrie Irving experience. The Lakers are sick of the Russell Westbrook experience. That said, the Nets know they have the better player and the better asset, despite all of his idiosyncrasies."
Nets general manager Sean Marks is reportedly growing tired of Kyrie Irving's non-availability for games throughout the season. Meanwhile, the Lakers are exploring options on how they should proceed with Westbrook by either looking at his trade value or running it back with him on the roster.
NBA insider on a potential Kyrie Irving-Russell Westbrook trade
“From a logical standpoint it makes sense. From a logical standpoint, the Nets are absolutely sick of the Kyrie Irving experience. The Lakers are sick of the Russell Westbrook experience.”
lakersdaily.com/nba-insider-on…
Would a Kyrie Irving-Russell Westbrook trade be ideal?
The current contract situation with Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving aren't ideal for either of the franchises. Westbrook will, in all likelihood, opt-in to his $47 million player option in the summer and will be under contract for one more year with the Lakers. Meanwhile, Kyrie has one more year left on his deal as he hits free agency in 2023.
For starters, the salaries don't match for both the players, which will mean that the Nets will need to throw in another player to make this deal work. However, both teams will be getting either of the players on for a year as both are unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2023. This allows the team to move on from them if things don't work out this season.
Russell Westbrook will team up with Kevin Durant if this deal goes through. The duo had reasonable success during their time together with the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, things did not end well with Durant going to the Golden State Warriors.
Kyrie Irving is the 5th player with multiple career games of 50 points and 75% FG pct in the shot-clock era.
He and Michael Jordan are the only primary guards with multiple such games. https://t.co/HT5dD59vBL
Kyrie Irving, on the other hand, will, once again, team up with LeBron James as the duo won a championship together for the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, just like Westbrook and Durant's relationship, things did not end well with Irving and James.
While Westbrook and Irving are All-Star caliber players, there is too much baggage that comes with them. Both franchises will have to be wary of this if they are trying to execute this deal.