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.
2. Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors were also named as a frontrunner for a Kevin Durant. Toronto has shown in the past that they are willing to make aggressive moves and trade for All-NBA forwards in pursuit of winning the NBA Championship.
Brooklyn is going to be asking for a package centered around Scottie Barnes but there is no chance that the Raptors would make that deal with the reigning Rookie of the Year. Barnes is a special player and the Raptors are not even close to being desperate enough to trade him.
That being said, it would not be absurd if the team traded Pascal Siakam in a deal for Durant. While Siakam turned it up later in the season last season, he is still a worse forward than KD and trading for KD would make Toronto better.
A package of Siakam, Khem Birch and a boatload of picks would work monetarily for both sides. That is really the only package the Raptors could offer that does not include Barnes as the other potential packages would not work monetarily.
This would be an interesting situation for the Lakers. If Durant goes to Toronto and Kyrie goes to LA that could end up being the two teams in the NBA Finals. If so, the Lakers’ new point guard would not even be able to play road games.
3. Miami Heat
The Miami Heat would also be the favorites to win the NBA Championship if they were to add Kevin Durant this offseason. Durant is not the only player that has been connected to the Heat as Donovan Mitchell could even be a trade acquisition for the Heat.
Miami is in an interesting spot that is their own doing, though. The Heat can offer a lot of their own draft capital in a potential trade but franchises know that those picks are not going to be that great.
Sure, anything can happen in 4-5 years’ time but the Heat are one of the best-run organizations in the sport. The Nets would probably feel way more comfortable getting picks from a franchise like the Wizards that they know would mess it up.
The interesting part of the potential trade talks is ironing out who the Heat would send in return. Brooklyn is going to ask for a package that is centered around Tyler Herro but that also is likely going to include Duncan Robinson, who does not have a good contract.
Miami was on KD’s list of preferred teams (which literally included the two teams with the best record in each conference last season) so they are one of few teams that actually know that KD would be happy if he came.
3 early in-season buyout targets for the Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers need any help they can get this season and thus, the team should already be preparing for potential buyout targets.
No state taxes, Miami beach and a fanbase that doesn’t add much pressure? Sounds like a dream for Kevin Durant.