Lakers Rumors: Recent Nets News Spells End of Potential Kyrie Irving
Normally, Kevin Durant news doesn't have a significant impact on the Lakers. But this summer, Durant's trade demands opened the door for all kinds of speculation, rumors, and reports of the Lakers landing Kyrie Irving in a trade amidst the Brooklyn chaos. On Tuesday, the last vestiges of hope for potential Kyrie Irving-Russell Westbrook evaporated.
The Athletic's Shams Charania reported that the Nets brain trust met with Kevin Durant and his agent Rich Kleiman and the group has decided to "move forward" with the partnership.
"Steve Nash, Joe Tsai and Sean Marks met with Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman in Los Angeles on Monday and have decided to move forward with partnership, Nets say."
Connecting the dots, the news likely also means that the Nets are finished with exploring any trade scenarios for Kyrie Irving, the superstar that Kevin Durant recruited to join him in Brooklyn.
Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka, who reportedly has been making plenty of calls this summer, can now focus on other avenues to explore in upgrading the roster. Which, first and foremost, is finding a suitable trade to jettison guard Russell Westbrook.
The Lakers allegedly have a "soft deadline" to trade Russell Westbrook before the start of training camp and the Nets news now provides clarity on potential options.
However, the Lakers have postured that they're somewhat willing to begin the regular season with Westbrook on the roster, but on the flip side, fans shouldn't be surprised if a Russ trade is consummated prior to Opening Night (October 22).
