All signs are pointing to the Los Angeles Lakers trading for Kyrie Irving. At this point, it seems to be a matter of when the Lakers will trade for Kyrie, not a matter of if. This is fantastic for Los Angeles, as it turns a team that has no chance of contending with Russell Westbrook into a possible contender.
A potential Irving trade is going to be centered around the Nets getting Westbrook’s expiring as well as future draft capital. However, there are other players that could be looped into the trade as well, making it more complicated than just a Westbrook-for-Irving swap.
Here are 4 players that could be included in a Lakers trade for Kyrie Irving:
1. Talen Horton-Tucker
The Los Angeles Lakers have several reasons to trade Talen Horton-Tucker this offseason and it potentially got even easier for the team this offseason with the young players brought in.
Brooklyn is going to enter a new era of basketball without KD and Kyrie and it is hard for the team to simply commit to tanking considering the Houston Rockets essentially own the team’s future from the James Harden trade.
Thus, Brooklyn might be intrigued to bring in whatever young assets it can to build around in the future. Talen Horton-Tucker might not be that valuable of an asset in the grand scheme of things but it makes sense for Brooklyn to potentially pursue him, especially considering the Nets might loop in more players in this trade as well.
THT probably is not in the trade if there are no other Nets players coming back to the Lakers. However, LA might end up getting more than just Kyrie back from Brooklyn.
2. Joe Harris
Russell Westbrook’s contract is the larger of the two deals and to offset the money that the Nets would be taking in, there is potential for the Nets to include Joe Harris in the trade. While adding THT would only increase the money more, at least the Nets would be getting a young player that they could try and develop themselves.
There are reports that the Nets do potentially want to include Harris in this trade because of the offsetting money and it would be silly for the Lakers to botch at this offer. While the Lakers might want a different player instead (more on that later), getting Harris would actually be a good thing.
The concerns are that he is making just under $40 million combined over the next two years and he has not been able to stay on the court recently. Harris is coming off of a season in which he only played 14 games.
However, a healthy Harris is literally exactly what the Los Angeles Lakers need. Harris is one of the best off-ball shooters in the entire sport and with Kyrie, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Harris would have plenty of chances to shoot threes.
Harris is a career 43.9% three-point shooter and he has shot as high as 47% from three (twice!) in his NBA career. Sure, he is a bit limited defensively but he can still hold his own and isn’t a complete one-way player. He is a perfect role player for LA.
His contract does not really restrict the team all that much next year as it is still under $20 million. And even if the Lakers have to clear space, they will be able to move Harris without much of a problem because of his profile as a shooter.
3. Seth Curry
The sharpshooter that the Lakers seemingly want to include in a Kyrie Irving trade over Joe Harris is none other than Seth Curry, who came over along with Ben Simmons in the James Harden trade last season.
Like Harris, it is really easy to fall in love with the idea of Seth Curry on the Los Angeles Lakers. He is one of the best shooting role players in the entire league and is absolutely in the upper echelon alongside Joe Harris.
That being said, Curry does have some more holes in his game that Harris does not have. Curry is much worse defensively than Harris is and playing him in crunch time with Kyrie Irving also in the backcourt could be a huge issue in a playoff series.
That being said, Curry’s contract is also much more manageable and it makes sense why the Lakers want to bring him in over Harris. Curry is making just over $8 million and his deal is expiring, which gives the Lakers that financial flexibility next summer.
There is a world in which the Lakers end up sending draft capital and end up adding both Harris and Curry in the trade. If that happens, there is one final player that could be looped into this deal.
4. Kendrick Nunn
Kendrick Nunn was viewed as one of the best value signings in the entire league last summer. Nunn had serious potentially coming out of his second year in Miami and it looked like the Lakers hit a home run by signing him to a two-year deal.
Nunn played some preseason games with the Lakers and that was it. The 26-year-old point guard did not appear in a single regular-season game for the Laker as he battled injury all season long. Now, he enters next season as one of the most intriguing players on the Lakers roster.
You cannot blame the Lakers for holding out hope on Nunn and projecting him to be a quality backup point guard for the team next season. However, it is also hard to blame the team for having doubts in someone who did not play a single minute last season.
The Lakers and Nets can do a trade that includes Curry and Harris without including Nunn. However, in that situation, the Lakers would be taking on an extra $6.7 million in salary. And while it does not really change who the team can sign in free agency, it does increase the tax bill.
Despite being a multi-billion dollar sports franchise, we know that tax bill matters to the Lakers. That is why Alex Caruso is not on the team and is instead on the Chicago Bulls.
Lakers: 3 Talen Horton-Tucker trades that now make perfect sense
The Los Angeles Lakers could be looking to trade Talen Horton-Tucker this offseason and if so, these three trades now make perfect sense.
Looping Nunn in would even out the money (Lakers only take on $1.5 million extra) and it gives the Nets an expiring player for depth that they can hope to flip at the deadline if he turns it around.