Ranking 3 possible Kyrie Irving trades for the Los Angeles Lakers
By Jason Reed
1. Los Angeles Lakers only send one pick, get Joe Harris and Seth Curry in return
This is perhaps the least likely of the three trade packages listed in this article. That being said, this is the end goal that the Los Angeles Lakers should be working towards and it is not completely out of the realm of possibility that it happens.
The Nets do not have much leverage with Irving, especially if the team trades Durant and definitely does not want him to return. If Rob Pelinka plays the game the right way, he could wait it out until Brooklyn has no choice but to take this offer. If there were other teams interested it would be different. But there isn’t.
This, right here, should be the Lakers’ dream package:
The Lakers still have to send a first-round pick. There is no chance that this trade is getting done without the Lakers sending a pick. Maybe in a perfect world, the Lakers can get top-3 protections on the pick, but that is still very unlikely.
LA themselves might not even love this package as it has the team taking on $11.7 million more in salary this season. That is when Jeanie Buss and co. need to look themselves in the mirror and realize that they run the second most valuable franchise in the NBA.
Los Angeles would get off Westbrook, would replace him with Kyrie and would add two lethal shooters to the rotation. Meanwhile, Brooklyn would get a pick for someone who does not have much value in trades in Kyrie as well as $11.7 million in saved money (plus whatever Westbrook buys out for).
There still is value here for the Nets. It might not be the best package as far as they are concerned, but it definitely is reasonable and realistic.