The Los Angeles Lakers may end up combining two of the best teammates that LeBron James has had in his career. Shams Charania of The Athletic recently reported that the Brooklyn Nets and Kyrie Irving are at an impasse that could lead to his departure from the team this offseason.
Irving has a player option for the 2022-23 season that he can use to leverage where he goes this offseason. Irving could theoretically opt out and sign a contract with a team in free agency but there are not many teams in the league with the means to open the cap space for him. Those teams are also not competitve.
However, he could opt into his option for the 2022-23 season for a sign-and-trade deal. Irving would have leverage in this situation as he could dictate where the Nets send him. For the Nets, moving Irving for something is better than losing him (and the cap space) for nothing.
The Lakers and New York Knicks were two teams that were initially mentioned as suitors for Irving, so there is a legitimate chance that Kyrie Irving could be wearing the purple and gold by October.
If the Los Angeles Lakers trade for Kyrie Irving they are going to have to loop in a third team.
The one hangup in this is that the Lakers are likely going to have to include a third team in the deal. While the Nets are better off getting something rather than nothing for Kyrie Irving, they still are not going to want Westbrook. Westbrook is overpaid and Kevin Durant probably would not be a fan of that move. The Nets have to keep Kevin Durant happy, after all.
Thus, if Kyrie does want to be a Laker then Rob Pelinka is going to have to get hard at work to find a third team that is willing to take on Westbrook’s contract (with incentives) and can offer the Nets something of value.
Here are the three teams that Rob Pelinka should try first.
1. Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are a team that, in theory, should be interested in trading for Russell Westbrook. Shams Charania reported earlier in the offseason that the Pacers could look to get off the contracts of Buddy Hield and Malcolm Brogdon and being an expiring, Westbrook made sense.
The only hang up is that Brogdon is a legitimately valuable player and the Pacers could probably get legitimate assets if they were to trade him on the market. Just the salary-cap relief is not enough and the Pacers would have to get more on top of that to intrigue them. However, the Lakers likely wouldn’t include a pick just for Hield and Brogdon.
That is different if they are instead getting Irving. Suddenly, trading one (or even two) picks to Indiana to get Westbrook there is a much easier task as they would be getting an all-star in return. Meanwhile, the Pacers would get their salary-cap space, get two juicy picks and would send Brogdon and Hield to the Nets.
This would be a pretty decent return for the Nets. Brogdon is a good point guard who can absolutely be the third-best player on a title-winning team (assuming Ben Simmons comes back and is the second-best player). Buddy Hield also adds nice depth to Brooklyn as a shooter.
While the Nets would need to add more frontcourt size, suddenly the rotation would be one more shooter deeper and that would make a big difference. Having Hield, Brogdon and Seth Curry in the backcourt is not a bad outlook whatsoever.
2. Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets are a team that actually has interest in Russell Westbrook this offseason. They might be the only team in the NBA that actually has interest in Westbrook as they have legitimate reasons to acquire the former MVP.
The Hornets have to pay Miles Bridges and will eventually have to pay LaMelo Ball and the team is not set up great financially. Gordan Hayward and Terry Rozier are a bit overpaid and could restrict the team in the future. Trading for Westbrook would get those contracts off the books and reset the money after next season.
Plus, Westbrook is the perfect over-the-hill star player to put in Charlotte with the sole purpose of being the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference to sell tickets. The city of Charlotte would 100% embrace him, even if it was just for one season.
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Hayward and Rozier is not a great return for the Lakers, especially considering they would likely have to attach a first-round pick. While it makes the team better next season, Hayward and Rozier would restrict the team in the future and they probably would not win a title with those two regardless.
However, they can spin that interest to a three-team trade with the Nets, with Brooklyn instead getting Hayward and Rozier. Granted, that is not the best return for Kyrie Irving, but if it is between losing Kyrie (and the cap space) or getting Hayward and Rozier, they are going to get Hayward and Rozier.
3. Washington Wizards
This is by far the best-case scenario for the Brooklyn Nets and is a trade package that we actually built when we first heard about the Irving reports. This trade takes the most moving pieces, though, as it would require two stars forcing their way to their new teams.
Irving forcing his way to Los Angeles is obvious and is well-established by this point in the article. If the Washington Wizards were to get involved, it would indicate that Bradley Beal is forcing a trade out of Washington and has told the Wizards that he wants to be a Net.
Beal did say that he has already decided where he wants to play next but said he would not announce it publically. While he and Jayson Tatum are good friends and he might want to be a Celtic, playing with Kevin Durant is not so bad, either.
In theory, Beal would tell the Wizards that he wants to go to Brooklyn, forcing their hand to pair him with Kevin Durant. Meanwhile, the Lakers would take advantage of this, trading Russell Westbrook and two first-round picks to get Kyrie to LA.
Sure, Westbrook and two picks is not a great return for Beal normally, but this is not a normal situation. If the decision is between letting Beal walk for free or getting an expiring contract and two potentially valuable picks, the franchise should get the valuable picks every single time.
This is by far the best option for the Brooklyn Nets but also the option that has the most strings attached. As long as the Los Angeles Lakers can get Kyrie and get Westbrook off the books, they likely don’t care who the third team is.