Rate the Trade: Kyrie Irving For Russell Westbrook

Both the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers have gotten off to poor starts this season. Just one combined win between the two teams, the Lakers are 0-4, while the Nets are just 1-4. While it is still early, these are two teams whose timelines suggest they should be competing for a championship. Led by superstars in Kevin Durant and LeBron James, that is the level of play each side expects, and so far it has not been there.

There were rumors in the offseason that the Lakers had serious interest in Nets guard Kyrie Irving. Had the Nets gone through with a Kevin Durant trade, perhaps Irving would have been next; however, with Durant rescinding his trade request, the team ultimately decided to run things back with both he and Irving.

This left the Lakers stuck with Russell Westbrook, which has so far has been every bit of the disaster that most people predicted it would be. There was at one point a sliver of hope that the Nets would bail Los Angeles out by swapping Westbrook for Irving, but the already unlikely nature of that was completely shut down once Durant opted to return.

Now with both teams struggling, Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus suggests the Kyrie Irving for Russell Westbrook swap as one of the Lakers' six best options for moving Westbrook. While Pincus acknowledges the unlikely nature of this, he states, "If the franchises want to help each other out of disappointing situations, perhaps there's a deal to be made."

While the off-court distractions he has brought the last several seasons have kept many teams from having real interest, Kyrie Irving's on-court production makes his value exponentially higher than Westbrook's. Currently off to a great individual start to the season, despite Brooklyn's poor record, Irving is a far better player than Westbrook at this point. For this reason, a swap was not realistic in the summer, and is not realistic now.

It's a fun idea, but the Lakers must look elsewhere if they hope to trade Russell Westbrook this season.

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