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Russell Westbrook (No. 0) of the Lakers
It was not long ago—a little more than a month, really—that the Lakers and Kyrie Irving appeared to be on an NBA collision course, with Irving supposedly so eager to go to Los Angeles and reunite with old teammate LeBron James that he would give up about $30 million to sign a midlevel contract with L.A.
The heat around that deal cooled, though, when Irving instead chose to opt into the final year of his Nets deal (worth $36 million) and later was reported to be content with his situation in Brooklyn. With the Nets front office preoccupied with the ongoing Kevin Durant, talk of an Irving deal was shelved.
But now comes a report from the New York Daily News that the Lakers would be willing to up their offer for Irving, sending out not only Russell Westbrook but also two first-round picks, in 2027 and 2029. The Lakers could also add Talen Horton-Tucker with L.A. taking back a shooter, either Seth Curry (the Lakers’ reported preference) or Joe Harris (the Nets’ preference).
Such a deal would require the Nets to also move out Durant, or to find a third team to take on Westbrook, who has a long and rocky history with Durant going back to their days as teammates with the Thunder, from 2007-2016.
NBA Insider: Nets Want to Move on From Irving
