Lakers Rumors: Trade Proposal Uses Spurs to Add Kyrie Irving

Getty Rob Pelinka of the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Brooklyn Nets don’t appear to be in much of a rush to trade star guard Kyrie Irving. Despite the Los Angeles Lakers displaying interest in the seven-time All-Star, the Nets are hoping to figure out the Kevin Durant situation before dealing Irving. However, that doesn’t mean Brooklyn and Los Angeles haven’t been speaking.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports first reported that the two sides were engaged in trade talks involving Irving. While it’s not a huge priority for the Nets, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report is also reporting that the teams are discussing options. One of the options that has come up is bringing in the San Antonio Spurs to help facilitate a three-team trade:

The Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers have held preliminary discussions on a Kyrie Irving trade, and sources indicate the teams are exploring the potential of pulling the San Antonio Spurs into a multi-team deal.

The Lakers, who sources indicated are interested in moving out of Russell Westbrook into Irving, may need to be patient. Westbrook’s $47.1 million expiring contract isn’t appealing to the Nets, who currently project to be above the league’s $150.3 million luxury tax threshold.

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What a 3-Team Trade Could Look Like

The Spurs have never been in the business of helping out the Lakers during the Gregg Popovich era but the rivals could help each other. San Antonio is in full-scale rebuild mode and needs to get off some contracts. Pincus believes that there’s a package that could send Russell Westbrook, Kendrick Nunn and Talen Horton-Tucker to the Spurs which would get Josh Richardson and Doug McDermott to Los Angeles along with Irving from Brooklyn:

Teams consider veterans like Jakob Poeltl, McDermott and Richardson to be available. Westbrook wouldn’t appeal to the Spurs and would presumably take a buyout, presumably for at least the minimum he could get with another franchise (nearly $3 million). With McDermott out and a Westbrook buyout, the Spurs would only add an approximate net of $16.7 million—essentially to buy a future first from the Lakers.

That could expand to include both Richardson and McDermott to Los Angeles, provided L.A. included either Kendrick Nunn or Talen Horton Tucker. The Lakers would have more interest in Richardson than McDermott.

If this trade happened, the Lakers would be giving up some young upside in Nunn and Horton-Tucker but would add proven wings. McDermott is a career 40.9% 3-point shooter and Richardson is a strong perimeter defender. This could be a worthwhile deal for Los Angeles if they’re hoping to make a run at a championship this season.

Irving Spotted in Los Angeles

Why Irving would want to leave Brooklyn is complicated. He grew up in New Jersey as a fan of the Nets. This was supposed to be the perfect situation for him. However, he alienated the team last season and now they’ve alienated him. Though he had issues with LeBron James in the past, they’ve clearly squashed that beef and he loves the city of Los Angeles.

He spends big portions of his offseason in California and is even there currently. In fact, he even attended a Los Angeles Sparks game on July 7. He knew what he was doing when he attended the game and it’s safe to say that Los Angeles is where he wants to be.