All signs are pointing to the Los Angeles Lakers trading for Kyrie Irving this offseason. The Brooklyn Nets appear to be blowing it up this offseason after Kevin Durant requested a trade and the Lakers are the only team desperate enough to offer assets for Irving.
Los Angeles is not contending with Russell Westbrook and while Irving has his problems, being able to flip Westbrook for Irving would be huge for the Lakers. From a basketball sense, this is the perfect scenario for the Lakers.
However, there has been a bit of a hang-up in trade talks. With Brooklyn being a taxpaying team, it appears that Sean Marks does not want to take in $11 million extra in salary by getting just Westbrook and picks. Thus, including Joe Harris to offset the money seems to be Brooklyn’s M-O.
The problem with that is despite the Lakers being a multi-billion dollar sports franchise, they pinch pennies at every turn. We saw it last offseason with Alex Caruso. LA seemingly does not want to be the side that is taking on more money in this trade.
That is where the San Antonio Spurs come in for the Lakers and Nets.
Speculation is now growing that the San Antonio Spurs, who made it very clear they are tanking for Victor Wembanyama, could be a third team that helps facilitate this trade. San Antonio would essentially take on Westbrook’s contract, allowing both teams to not add much more money to their salary-cap situation.
The problem with this path for the Lakers is that they are going to have to include more assets. The Spurs are not going to just do this to help out the Lakers and Nets. They have to be compensated. Instead of simply paying more tax money, the Lakers would have to trade a first-round pick to San Antonio as well.
Los Angeles and Brooklyn could certainly still work out a trade without a third party involved as adding that third team can complicate things. That being said, there are still multiple routes this trade can take.
Let’s break down two potential routes a three-team trade with the Spurs could take.
1. The Lakers send the Spurs a very-lightly protected pick
This first trade package sees the Spurs only getting Russell Westbrook and picks from both teams involved. The Nets send a future second-round pick to the Spurs that way all three teams can “touch” in the deal, via NBA rules. That is just another added benefit for the Spurs helping facilitate this trade.
San Antonio is the team that obviously takes on the most salary here as they are absorbing Russell Westbrook’s deal but they also get some salary relief in trading Josh Richardson. While Richardson can be a valuable three and D player, this is a team that is trying to tank and Richardson is on an expiring contract.
This trade does see the Lakers trade two future picks, one of which is top-3 protected in 2029 in case the Lakers are horrible. While this might not be the best-case scenario for Lakers fans, the team very well could be leveraged by LeBron to make this trade.
Plus, the Lakers’ draft pick situation is not as bleak as it seems. New Orleans only has one of the team’s first-round picks over the next three years. LA just can’t trade any of them because New Orleans can take the pick in either 2024 or 2025 so the Lakers don’t know which pick they will have and because of Steipen Rules, that means they cannot trade 2026 as well.
This accomplishes the monetary goals for the Nets. Brooklyn is saving $36.3 million in this while also getting a future first and promising young player for Kyrie. The Lakers are taking on more money, but it is a very small $1.5 million.
2. Lakers trade Talen Horton-Tucker to the Spurs
Brooklyn does not send a pick to San Antonio in this package but the team can send the Spurs cash considerations to accomplish the “touch rule” in a multi-team trade. Brooklyn’s return in this package is not as good as it does not include THT and has Doug McDermott replace Josh Richardson.
McDermott is a worse contract than Richardson because he has a second year on his deal, unlike Richardson. McDermott is not really a game-changing role player, so the Spurs being able to dump him in another trade is unlikely. This adds more value to the trade for San Antonio as they do not have to pay him next season.
Add that with the fact that THT is going to San Antonio in this trade and the Lakers could have a better situation with draft picks. Instead of outright sending the pick with protections, the Lakers can instead work out a pick swap that still leaves them with at least one first-round pick in 2028.
Since the return is not as good for Brooklyn (but they don’t really have any more options for Kyrie), Seth Curry is not included in this trade. This at least means that the Lakers will save money against the tax and it would open a roster spot for the team to pursue a free agent that can complement the roster.
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This is probably the better of the two packages for the Lakers and the Nets would likely push for the first package. If the Spurs do not think either package is worth it then the two teams are going to have to figure something else out.