The Kyrie Irving to the Los Angeles Lakers trade rumors started swirling when he gave the Nets a list of teams he wanted to be traded to that included Los Angeles. Those trade talks then were amplified when it was reported that the Lakers were the only team that was pursuing Irving in a sign and trade deal.
Yesterday, Shams Charania put those rumors to bed on twitter when he reported that Kyrie Irving will opt into his $37 million player option for the 2022-23 season. His tweet also mentioned that Irving will pass on any sign and trade deals to stay with Kevin Durant and the Nets.
The Lakers could still technically trade for Kyrie Irving, but after he opted into his current deal it would be an unlikely scenario.
With that one tweet, Shams essentially shattered the dreams of Lakers fans everywhere that wanted to see the reunion of LeBron James and Irving, one of the best duos of all time. However, that 2016 championship they won together seems like ages ago and even if they did pull off a miraculous trade for Irving it probably would have been fool’s gold.
Don’t get me wrong, any trade that could get Westbrook’s contract off the books would be a good one, but trading for Kyrie’s contract would have put them in a similar situation. Yes, Irving can actually shoot from 3-point range as well as any point guard in the league, but is he really worth a max extension twelve seasons into his career that would go into his mid-thirties?
It was only last offseason that the Lakers thought they were title contenders because they traded for an overpriced point guard past his prime in Westbrook. Now they were thinking about making the same mistake two seasons in a row, and they would have had to fill out the rest of the roster with minimum contracts again.
He would have obviously been a better solution than running it back with Westbrook, but they would’ve been trading one problem for another.
A trade for Kyrie also would have likely had to include one or maybe even two future first-round picks. Those picks could easily fall into the lottery as well if LeBron decided to jump ship and leave the team for a better shot at a title when he becomes a free agent after this season.
Kyrie is still one of the best pure scorers in the entire league, but he is limited on defense. He also comes with plenty of other baggage and drama that the Lakers already have enough of.
Let’s not forget he forced his way off of a team with LeBron James because he was tired of playing second fiddle. He had a healthy Kevin Durant on his team last season and got swept out of the first round of the playoffs by Boston. That same Celtics team also had Kyrie walk out on them for nothing after promising to resign in free agency, and they ended up in the NBA finals.
It was obvious Lakers were far from a championship contender last season. Kyrie would definitely make them closer to the conversation, but he could not even get to the Finals with both James Harden and Kevin Durant on his team. What would make a Lakers super team with him on it any different?
If that is not enough, these are the three biggest reasons why the Lakers are better off now that the Irving trade is off the table.