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As the NBA world awaits an offer sheet from Deandre Ayton and a trade with Kevin Durant, other discussions and rumors have all but died as the Summer League chugs on. That includes the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets discussions of a possible Kyrie Irving deal, according to the latest updates from various news breakers.
For now, ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski said in his now daily update on the talks that the nets are focused on Durant discussions and have put Irving talks on hold while they figure out whether or not to trade Durant and where to send him (emphasis mine):
“Brooklyn is really focused on Kevin Durant and trying to figure out if there’s a deal in the market for him. I think Kyrie Irving is behind there. There were talks with the Lakers last week, I’m told that won’t go ahead. I think both sides know where they stand. And I think for the Nets, to get a clear indication of what the future holds with Kevin Durant before they make a decision about how Kyrie Irving fits in, that’s how other teams feel about the situation.
“I think the focus for the Nets right now is, ‘Is there a deal out there for Kevin Durant?’ And I think Kyrie Irving is secondary, and I think his future may depend on how the networks make the decisions that they make around KD.”
The bold part is remarkable, not to mention believable. As has been discussed ad nauseam on this site and elsewhere, the Nets have no other suitors for Irving, and the Lakers are reluctant to bid against themselves. And on those two points, HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto offered yet another report that the team is currently unwilling to give up more than one first-round pick to leave Westbrook, and the Nets have had no luck summoning other suitors for Irving:
Currently, the Lakers don’t want to give up several first-round picks to trade Russell Westbrook, league sources told HoopsHype. In Westbrook and Irving’s speculated blockbuster trade, the Nets would likely want a first-round pick to move Irving and face Westbrook. The Nets would likely want an additional first-round player to lure another team like Spurs or pacemaker Westbrook as the third team in a deal.
At least one member of the Dallas Mavericks organization believed that if there’s one coach Irving would want to play for, it would be Jason Kidd, his idol growing up a Nets fan. The Nets called the Mavericks to gauge their interest in an Irving trade, league sources told HoopsHype. However, Dallas did not reciprocate much interest in acting for Irving.
And all this is why both sides clearly understand what the other has to offer and wait to see if they can do better. Jovan Buha from the athlete — during an appearance on ESPN Los Angeles’ “Lakers Talk with Allen Sliwa” — even went so far as to say that if the Lakers were ready to give up two first-round picks, Irving would likely be in Los Angeles to do his introductory press Conference currently:
“From what I’ve been told, basically every conversation between the Lakers and any other team starts with, ‘We want at least one first-round pick to take Russell Westbrook’s contract.’ So that’s the starting point of any negotiation, whether the Lakers trade Russ for Kyrie, or him for Buddy Hield and Myles Turner, or maybe Charlotte for Gordon Hayward, one of those packages expects a first-round pick, be it 2027 or 2029, to be linked to Russell Westbrook to encourage one of those teams to adopt it.
…
“Any Russ trade will require draft pay. From what I’ve been told, the Lakers don’t want to give up that second first-round pick. I think if they were willing to make two first-round picks, Kyrie would be a Laker now. That’s about as good a deal as Brooklyn will realistically get for Kyrie are two first-round picks and a big run out in Russ. I think this deal would have gone through if the Lakers had been willing to do it by that point. I think the bargaining is really about the second piece.
“I think the Lakers are ready to send Russ plus one other player plus a first-round pick to Brooklyn. But Brooklyn wants a second-round pick, and the Lakers would like to send a second-round pick, or maybe two second-round picks, something like that. I think that’s where there’s haggling in these negotiations, and then which player the Lakers are going to send back to Brooklyn.
And that makes intuitive sense. Almost literally, the Lakers can’t offer much more than two first-round picks. If the Nets weren’t willing to make a deal for it, why even discuss it with the Lakers? But it’s also clear that the Lakers don’t want to bid against themselves to pay that much. And at least according to Dave McMenamin appearing on NBA Today. Also, there’s still a chance the Nets will eventually take their ball and go home and try to work things out with Irving and Durant at boot camp:
“They (the Lakers) are waiting to see if Brooklyn is actually going to try to bring these two guys back. And the thing I’ve learned over the past few days in Vegas is that the summary of the Nets’ thoughts is that “Kevin Durant made the decision to request this trade at a time when emotions were running high, when he saw his former team making the trade warriors winning a championship and maybe in time he would want to return to the herd.’ and They won’t make a move like trading with Kyrie Irving until they hear it from the horse’s mouth and they get a clear message from Kevin Durant, driving his intentions forward. Because honestly, if they were to move Kyrie, that might be what prompts KD to say, “I definitely want out.” Maybe they could convince everyone involved, “Hey, let’s try this again” and So it’s unlikely the Lakers will be able to poach Kyrie in the meantime, and at some point they’ll have to start looking at a plan B or a plan C.”
So again, we can be here for a while. It still logically seems like Irving will eventually be a Laker and Westbrook will be sent elsewhere. It may just be a little while before the Nets try to figure out if they can persuade Durant to stay or what the trade market is for him, and then set about figuring out the exact package of picks and players they can exile Irving .
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