Deandre Ayton sign-and-trade may signal that Kyrie Irving to Lakers is near
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers have been in a long process of working out a deal for Kyrie Irving that has hit multiple small snags. For the most part, Brooklyn does not want to take on more money in Russell Westbrook, so the Lakers need to include a third team or take on more salary in return.
This is not the only potential trade that the Lakers are working on, however. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that LA was also engaged in trade talks with the Indiana Pacers around Russell Westbrook. Based on Indiana’s offseason thus far, there is only one potential package for Westbrook that makes sense for Indiana.
The Pacers are busy doing their own thing as well, though, as the team might be on the verge of acquiring Deandre Ayton. Ayton is a restricted free agent this offseason and it appears that a sign-and-trade between the Pacers and Suns could be near.
If the Pacers do indeed end up trading for Ayton and don’t just simply sign him as a free agent then it could very well be the appetizer for a Kyrie Irving trade right around the corner.
Why a Deandre Ayton sign-and-trade could signal that Kyrie Irving to the Lakers is near:
Well, this would be optimistic thinking for the Lakers as the Pacers trading for Ayton would take away the only other team that could potentially trade for Westbrook this offseason. If the Pacers trade for Ayton then they are out on Westbrook, meaning that the Nets trade is the only option left for LA.
At that point, Los Angeles may not have the leverage that it thinks it had before and might be more willing to throw in that extra pick or take on the extra salary needed to make the trade happen.
If Indiana trades for Ayton then they are most likely going to send Myles Turner and Buddy Hield back to Phoenix. That is the only package that makes sense based on the contracts that Indiana has as well as the likely value of Ayton on the open market.
Plus, Turner has been available for what seems like forever and the Suns would be losing a center in this transaction, so bringing one back makes the most sense. Ayton is likely going to make a decent amount more than Turner’s $17.5 million, hence why Hield is involved.
If the Pacers simply outright sign Ayton then it could be a different story. In theory, the Pacers could still execute a Russell Westbrook salary-dump trade for Turner and Hield. But with the team signing Ayton, they might not fully be committing to bottoming out for the first overall pick as previously thought.
Regardless, any little bit of leverage that the Lakers had with there being a “market” is now gone.