The 3 teams that can help the Lakers accelerate a Kyrie Irving trade
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers have been patiently waiting for the Brooklyn Nets to figure out what direction they are going to go in this summer. Los Angeles’ best-case scenario is flipping Russell Westbrook for Kyrie Irving but that will not happen unless a Kevin Durant trade happens.
A Durant trade was losing steam until reports surfaced about his recent meeting with Nets’ owner Joe Tsai. Durant reiterated his trade request to Tsai, giving him an ultimatum between him or Steve Nash and Sean Marks.
In the same report, Shams Charania named the three teams that are still leading the charge in the Durant market. Los Angeles is obviously rooting for these teams to get a trade done that way they can complete a trade for Kyrie.
Here are the 3 teams that could accelerate a Kyrie Irving trade for the Lakers:
1. Boston Celtics
Reports about a potential Kevin Durant trade with the Boston Celtics first surfaced a few weeks ago and they still seem to be in the race, per Shams. Boston has the best established player that the Nets can get in a Durant trade as the return would be centered around Jaylen Brown.
Durant would instantly make the Celtics the favorites to win the NBA Championship. Boston is coming off of an NBA Finals trip and has already improved this offseason. Adding a top-3 player in the league is obviously going to push that ceiling higher.
It will be interesting to see what other players Brooklyn tries to get in a package as they could try to make the case for Marcus Smart as well. If Brooklyn instantly wants to be competitive next season, this might be the package to make.