Lakers, Nets May Look To Spurs To Help With Kyrie Irving-Russell Westbrook Trade

The Lakers and Nets could turn to the Spurs to help facilitate a trade of Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook, per Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report.

The Lakers are aiming to move Westbrook this offseason, and Irving reportedly wants to play for the Lakers. But the league seems to be on hold as the Nets’ first priority is to seek out a deal for Kevin Durant, who has requested a trade.

Per reports, the Nets are not interested in Westbrook. The Spurs, however, have the cap space where they could take on Westbrook’s contract, Pincus wrote. Then the Spurs would presumably buy out his deal.

As Pincus noted, such a deal would give the Nets a huge trade exception, “for as much as Irving’s entire salary.”

In order for such an arrangement to work, the Spurs first would have to shed some salary. Doug McDermott, Josh Richardson and Jakob Poeltl are all said to be available.

Of course, this is all speculation at this point, and no changes may be coming for any of the aforementioned.

“At worst, the Lakers can hold onto Westbrook and not overpay in a deal for Irving,” Pincus wrote. “And the Nets can mimic what the Houston Rockets did with John Wall last season and just keep Irving under contract and off the court.”

It does appear that Irving would like to play for the Lakers.

“Kyrie Irving absolutely wants to be a Los Angeles Laker,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said. “This we know. The Lakers want Kyrie Irving. This we know. But making that happen, that’s a different story.

“We don’t really get a good feeling there’s any team seriously on the market for Kyrie right now beyond the Lakers. It’s doesn’t mean they don’t like him or value him, they just don’t want to pay a potential price the Nets are asking. This is one of those things where we just have to wait and see.”

Irving opted in to the final year of his contract, making a return to Brooklyn appear as if it were all set. But then Durant requested a trade, suddenly making the Nets’ immediate future extremely uncertain.

“I doubt Kyrie will be back (with the Nets), I think he’ll be on the Lakers, but I don’t know when it will happen,” Windhorst said, again adding that the Lakers seem to be the only team with a strong interest.