Lakers fans around the globe woke up to a firestorm of news on Monday morning. After reports of Kyrie Irving's desire to leave the Nets went public, it wasn't long before the Purple and Gold were named as the primary landing spot for his services.
At one point, the Lakers apparently put together an offer for Irving that included disgruntled veteran point guard Russell Westbrook, who just played the worst season of his life.
(via Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News)
While Nets GM Sean Marks and superstar forward Kevin Durant have yet to speak this offseason, Irving’s camp has requested and received permission from the Nets to speak with other teams about sign-and-trade packages, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.
Which brings us to a sign-and-trade, and Irving reportedly has six teams on his radar: the Lakers, Clippers, Knicks, Heat, 76ers and Mavericks. A Durant and Westbrook reunion in Brooklyn remains unlikely, according to a source. The Knicks, Mavericks and Heat are the teams that have the biggest capacity to pull off a deal for Irving, but the Knicks and Mavericks appear to be in a bidding war over free agent guard Jalen Brunson.
As we now know, Irving is no longer eligible for a sign and trade after picking up his player option. Kyrie will be in a Nets jersey next season, but not because he wants to be.
After everything he put his team through during the 2021-22 campaign, there weren't many teams in the league looking to take a chance on Kyrie. Essentially, he took the money because it was the only thing he could do. Other than L.A.'s rebuffed trade offer, Irving wasn't drawing much interest from GMs around the association.
So Kyrie will be going back to the Nets for one more run. This time, let's just hope he actually shows up for more than half the season.
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