Getty Kyrie Irving
The Los Angeles Lakers missed out on Kyrie Irving and one of the best players in the NBA had some thoughts about it.
Marc Stein of Substack reported on February 5 that Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai didn’t want to trade Irving to the Lakers and Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green thinks Tsai was “petty” for that.
“I am told that they would not trade him to the Lakers and that is what I call billionaire petty,” Green said on his podcast. “That is Joe Tsai saying, ‘Listen man, that’s where he want to go? I don’t care if they offer the best deal or not. I can be petty too.’ And billionaire petty is a different level of petty. And not many people can compete with billionaire petty.”
The Nets traded Irving and Markieff Morris to the Dallas Mavericks for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, an unprotected 2029 first-round pick and second-round picks in 2027 and 2029. LeBron James and Anthony Davis wanted the Lakers to trade for Irving, league sources told Heavy Sports. Both superstars were upset when they heard the news that Irving got traded to the Mavericks.
The Lakers Tried to Get Kyrie Irving
The Lakers offered the Nets a package of Russell Westbrook and two first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 for Irving, according to a February 5 report from Shams Charania of The Athletic. Brooklyn wanted Los Angeles to include Austin Reaves, Max Christie and pick swaps.
“The Lakers offered the Nets a package of Westbrook and two first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 for Irving in the last two days, sources with knowledge of the discussions said — to which the Nets informed the Lakers that in order to make an offer to get in the Irving sweepstakes they would require all of their young players such as Austin Reaves and Max Christie and pick swaps in addition to Westbrook and the two first-round picks,” Charania wrote. “The Nets ultimately moved on from a possible Lakers framework to choose Dallas.”
James told ESPN’s Michael Wilbon on February 6 that Irving could have helped the Lakers win a championship. LeBron and Uncle Drew won the 2016 title together on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I can’t sit here and say I’m not disappointed on not being able to land such a talent, but [also] someone that I had great chemistry with, and know I got great chemistry with on the floor, that can help you win championships, in my mind, in my eyes,” James said.
Draymond Green Could Be on the Lakers Next Season
A Western Conference executive told Heavy Sports senior insider Sean Deveney that “everyone assumes” Green will leave the Warriors and sign with the Lakers this summer. Green has a player option worth $27.6 million for next season. The four-time champion is widely expected to decline it and enter unrestricted free agency.
“Hard to say what you could get for Draymond at this point because he can be a free agent, and everyone assumes he’s going to the Lakers next summer,” the executive told Deveney. “You’d probably have to take back a bad contract to move him, and they’re not going to see that as being worth it, so he’s not going anywhere. But it is a big shadow over that team. They’ve had injuries and some bad personnel decisions, but the Draymond thing is still there.”
Green has the same agent (Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group) as James and Davis.