At 2-8 on the season, the Los Angeles Lakers have not had an ideal start. Despite the combined powers of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and a rejuvenated Russell Westbrook, there just isn’t enough on the roster around them to make it all work.
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, the Nets are enduring a similar struggle. At just 4-7 so far, they have not met expectations in this early season, and that partly falls on Kyrie Irving, who is once again embroiled in a huge controversy.
For two teams that were supposed to be leaders of the pack, they haven’t looked too great to start this season — but there is a way they can help each other get better.
NBA Insider Proposes Huge Blockbuster Trade Between The Lakers And Nets
In a recent article, grant Hughes of Bleacher Report detailed a couple of trade options for the Lakers involving star big man Anthony Davis. In one hypothetical deal, he has the Lakers sending Davis to the Nets for none other than Kevin Durant himself.
Check it out:
The Trade: Los Angeles Lakers receive Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets for Anthony Davis and an unprotected 2029 first-round pick.
Brooklyn’s asking price for Durant over the summer was laughably high given the dearth of flexibility around the league and KD’s short list of destinations. Having found no takers willing to surrender “two All-Star caliber talents and a cache of draft picks,” per Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, and surely concerned that KD’s next value-depleting trade request may not be far off, the Nets might operate more reasonably now.
Maybe they’d take one of the 75 best players in NBA history and a highly valuable unprotected first-rounder.
Davis, like nearly every NBA player, isn’t the offensive force Durant is. But he could address Brooklyn’s key weaknesses on the other end. The Nets are 23rd in defensive efficiency and dead last in opponent offensive rebound rate. With Kyrie Irving’s future as a Net far from certain, trading Durant could leave Brooklyn without a go-to option on offense. But the Nets were essentially built to surround a star with shooting, and they’d still have Joe Harris, Seth Curry, Patty Mills, Royce O’Neale, Cam Thomas and maybe even Irving flanking Ben Simmons and Davis.
Ideally, it’s a trade that works for both sides. The Lakers can make the big change they’ve been waiting for and get instantly better overnight with the acquisition of Durant, who is still at the top of his game offensively.
Of course, the Nets get to say goodbye to one disgruntled start (Durant) for one who may be more willing to work in Brooklyn. If Kyrie sticks around and Ben Simmons discovers how to play basketball again, it could launch the Nets back into contender status.
For now, though, we will just have to wait and see how these teams address their early-season deficit.
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