Los Angeles Lakers Make Final Call on Kyrie Irving Following Recent Controversy

Getty Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets reacts in the fourth quarter against the Indiana Pacers at Barclays Center

For a large part of the most recent NBA offseason, there was a back-and-forth between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers about a potential Kyrie Irving trade. Even beyond trade talk, Irving was publicly flirting with the idea of opting out of his contract in Brooklyn to sign with the Lakers and reunite with LeBron James for the $6 million mid-level exception this offseason. However, it looks like that was more of a play for leverage during contract negotiations more than a serious idea. Once Irving opted-in to the final year of his contract with the Nets, the two teams remained in trade talks but were unable to get something done. 

Irving and the Nets made strives this offseason. He returned to training camp and was being praised for his leadership. Everything changed however, when Irving publicly shared a link to a video containing antisemitic rhetoric. The Nets condemned his tweet, and after some back and forth with the media, Irving was suspended after not issuing an apology. The Nets point guard has now apologized for any harm he caused, but his time could be done in Brooklyn. 

Could the Lakers Trade for Kyrie Irving? 

With reports saying that Irving may have played his final game in Brooklyn, could the Lakers renew their interest in him? They were said to have an interest in teaming up together this offseason, but after how this season has started, the Lakers have put Irving off the table, according to Howard Beck on a recent episode of “The Crossover NBA Show.”

“I will add one thing without going into all the detail, but I was canvassing a bunch of front office folks last week when I was workshopping my idea of ‘Can the Nets tear down now? Should they just tear down now? What could they reasonably get for Kevin Durant? Could they get anything for Kyrie Irving? Could they get anything at all for Ben Simmons?’” said Beck. “And in those discussions, when I brought up the Lakers, the pushback I was getting was they’re waiting for a specific player. That they’re not doing the Pacer deal, that they won’t do the Kyrie deal now that we for sure thought they would do a couple months ago, is an indication that the Lakers are waiting for a bigger piece to come loose that they think they can trade Westbrook and the two future firsts for.”

The Lakers won’t deal for Kyrie and are interested in another player that went unnamed in the podcast. Could it be Durant? We will wait and see. 

Other Potential Irving Landing Spots

Recently Kyrie Irving has been linked to numerous teams in trade reports, including the Los Angeles Lakers, which has been debunked. However, the Utah Jazz have also been named in a potential deal with Mike Conley Jr. The way they are playing, they may not want to shake anything up there in Utah, though. The Miami Heat have also been named as a potential team that could take on Irving and everything that comes with him, including the most recent controversy.