The Los Angeles Lakers are currently waiting for the opportunity to make a Kyrie Irving trade this offseason. The Brooklyn Nets are currently figuring out their situation and deciding whether or not they will trade Kevin Durant, which will impact whether or not they trade Kyrie.
Los Angeles is the only suitable destination for Irving and there have been a lot of reports about a potential trade. It is widely believed that if the Lakers were simply willing to trade two first-round picks instead of just one the deal would already be done.
Not wanting to sell the future for one year of Kyrie is understandable, but in the grand scheme of things, Rob Pelinka and co. should be willing to do this to get Kyrie to LA. Trying to leverage the Nets right now is fine, but if it comes down to it, they have to pull the trigger.
Here are three reasons why the Lakers should be happy to trade two first-round picks for Kyrie Irving:
1. The Los Angeles Lakers are not winning anything with Russell Westbrook
This is the most obvious reason why the Lakers should be willing to trade two first-round picks. Russell Westbrook is actively hurting the team and as long as he is in Los Angeles they do not have a chance of winning the title.
In fact, the Lakers are better off just telling Westbrook to stay home rather than letting him play. Darvin Ham can dress it up all he wants and fans can convince themselves all they want. Westbrook is not going to change. He has not changed for the last decade-plus and Ham isn’t going to suddenly be the Westbrook whisperer.
The front office needs to look themselves in the mirror and ask a very simple question: do we care about winning a championship this year or not? If the answer is yet then they trade the picks. It is as simple as that.
And if they instead want to pinch pennies and pray Westbrook works it risks upsetting LeBron, potentially leading to him leaving and then Anthony Davis will follow suit behind as a fellow Klutch guy.
2. The Lakers have more first-round picks than you realize
We posted an entire article dedicated to this topic as it is assumed by most fans that the Lakers do not have many picks in the future. Los Angeles can’t trade a first-round pick until the 2027 season but that does not mean that they are without a pick in the next four drafts.
In fact, as it stands right now, the Lakers have three first-round picks in the next four years that they can utilize to build the roster up with youth. So why can’t they trade until the 2027 season?
The 2023 first-round pick is a pick swap with the Pelicans. So while New Orleans will get the better of the two picks, the Lakers will still have a pick. They cannot trade it right now since it is a swap.
Then New Orleans has the right to a first-round pick in either 2024 or 2025. If they want the pick in 2024 then the Lakers get their 2025 pick. If New Orleans passes on the 2024 pick, they will get the 2025 pick regardless of where it lines up.
Because of this, the Lakers cannot trade any picks from 2024-26. First, they do not know which pick the Pelicans will yet take. Second, because of the Steipen Rule, they cannot trade consecutive first-round picks in 2026 because the Pelicans have the right to take the 2025 pick.
All you need to know is that the Lakers will get the worse pick swap in 23, will get an unprotected first in either 24 or 25 (depending on the Pelicans’ decision), and after that own all of their own picks.
3. The Lakers can get more than just Kyrie Irving out of this trade
Since the Brooklyn Nets are a taxpaying team they are going to try their hardest to not take on more money in this deal. For that reason, the Nets are better off sending a contact with Kyrie Irving in order to lessen the potential financial blow.
Joe Harris is the first player that the Nets will try to trade as he has a larger salary and has two more years under contract. If the Lakers include a second first, though, they can probably get the Nets to send Seth Curry, who is cheaper and on an expiring.
Either way, the Lakers should be willing to take on more money if they have to. I understand they are over the tax and adding salary is going to have even bigger tax implications. This is a multi-billion dollar sports franchise we are talking about, though. They can afford for the bottom line to be slightly less so they can instead build a contender.
Westbrook is not the only problem with this roster. The team has no three-point shooting. Adding Curry or Harris to the deal doesn’t just help for monetary reasons for the Nets but it gives the Lakers something they actively need on the roster.
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Heck, throw Talen Horton-Tucker into the deal and bring back both Curry and Harris! This team needs shooting and suddenly with Kyrie and two elite three-point shooters, they might be the favorites in the West.