The Brooklyn Networks And the Los Angeles Lakers They are making progress on a deal that will swap Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook, According to Chris Hines. Other parts will have to be included, but there is “concrete optimism” that the two sides can reach a deal this summer.
Irving recently picked the final year of his $36.4 million deal, but it is expected to go live after fellow star Kevin Durant requested a deal from the Nets. “If Kevin Durant was on the first train to leave, Kyrie Irving would be on board with Cabose as far as the networks are concerned,” Brian Windhurst I mentioned earlier this week.
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Coming from a season in which he only played 29 games because he refused a COVID-19 vaccine, and given his past injury history – Irving hasn’t played 70 games in a season since 2017 when he was still with Cleveland Cavaliers Understandably, the mercury condom market is not as strong as Durant’s.
Despite this, the Lakers don’t have much to lose. Irving represents their best opportunity to add talent this summer, and he has a previous relationship with LeBron James. Both players will hit free agency next season, and the Lakers are trying to squeeze another title from duo LeBron and Anthony Davis. Irving has his fair share of negatives, but on the field he will be much better than Westbrook, and will greatly increase the Lakers’ title odds.
Of course, Westbrook trading 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 it. He recently picked the final year of his contract, which is worth $47 million, which makes trading challenging from a logistical perspective. Plus, there’s the fact that he’s way over his head, but he still needs the ball in his hands most of the time to be absolutely effective.
There aren’t really any logical basketball situations, but the Nets are in a bad position after Durant’s trade request, and they might be willing to take Westbrook as an expired contract if they can transfer Irving and coax some concessions out of the Lakers. In particular, the Nets will be eager to get some draft picks given how many they owe Houston Rockets In the coming years through James Harden’s trade.
Per Haynes, draft compensation is currently one of the biggest sticking points in completing a trade. The Lakers also exited a range of future draft picks via the Anthony Davis deal, and were previously unwilling to attach future first-round picks to Westbrook’s transfer. If they manage to get Irving, it might be worth the price. Furthermore, it appears that the teams do not agree to the participation of other players. Most notably, the Nets want to transfer Joe Harris, who has two years and $38.6 million left on his contract and is out of ankle surgery, while the Lakers are pushing to get Seth Curry instead.
A deal doesn’t seem imminent at this point, but if the two sides are far in the discussions, it might not be long before Irving meets LeBron and wears purple and gold.
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