Getty Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant.
Teams all around the NBA are scrambling trying to figure out how to trade for Kevin Durant. He’s perhaps the biggest name in the sport to request a trade since Kobe Bryant did it in 2007. Kyrie Irving also figures to be on the move once the Brooklyn Nets figure out their plans for Durant but he’s not nearly as valuable an asset right now.
However, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Durant and Irving would still like to play together if possible. There aren’t going to be many teams lining up for that possible trade considering how bad things went in Brooklyn. There could be only one team in the NBA that would be able to handle both superstars. Fox Sports’ Nick Wright believes that the Los Angeles Lakers with LeBron James could make it work.
“I’m semi-joking but not really, I think LeBron’s the only personality in the league strong enough to hold that together,” Wright said on “First Things First.” “I think every other team, it would just be the Nets moved there, and that doesn’t work it just doesn’t work, so no, I think it’s a bad idea, except for the Lakers where I think it’s a great idea they win a bunch of titles so they should probably because you probably make it happen.”
Wright’s cohost and veteran NBA insider Chris Broussard also believes that Los Angeles is the only place where Durant and Irving as teammates again could work.
“I agree if they go to the Lakers, and team with LeBron, sure I’ll take that. There is nowhere else on planet Earth I would want these two playing together,” Broussard said.
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Wright Pitches Trade That Gets the 2 Stars to L.A.
If the Lakers and Nets had any interest in making a possible trade that sends Durant and Irving to Los Angeles, it’s entirely impossible. Some might not value Anthony Davis as highly as Durant but when he’s playing his best basketball, he’s arguably just as valuable and four years younger. If the Nets want to continue to contend, landing Davis keep them relevant in the Eastern Conference. Now, Irving is still more valuable than Westbrook so the Lakers would have to sweeten the pot.
Wright pitched a trade that would send Durant and Irving to the Lakers while the Nets get Davis, Westbrook, a 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 first-round pick.
“I don’t think this is going to happen, I’m just saying it works. Biggest trade in NBA history,” Wright said. “[ESPN’s] Brian Windhorst is floating it, he keeps floating stuff out there, and then all of a sudden it materializes. He said it on the ‘Hoop Collective’, and when there’s mayhem in the NBA, you know who typically comes out a winner? The King. Not always, but usually it’s like ‘wait, how did LeBron [James] end up a winner?’ Because he’s playing five-dimensional chess on you fools.”
Any Chance This Trade Could Happen?
While this is certainly a wild trade scenario, it does make a bit of sense for both teams. The Nets get a top-10 player to pair with Ben Simmons in Davis. They also get a couple of picks out of the deal. Westbrook isn’t a good asset but he comes off the books after this season and opens up huge salary cap space. A team with Simmons and Davis could attract another star to Brooklyn.
For the Lakers, they get Durant, who has long been considered the second-best player in the NBA behind LeBron. Irving brings playmaking and shooting that the team needs. The problem is that this isn’t a very good defensive team without Davis. That said, the offensive trio of Irving, LeBron and Durant might be the best the NBA has ever seen, which could be enough to win a couple of championships.
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Superstar Team-up Only Makes Sense on Lakers: ‘Biggest Trade in NBA History’