It’s the back end of July now, and the Los Angeles Lakers have yet to make the ground-breaking trade fans were hoping for to start the summer.
Now, it appears that nobody knows what will happens next, and Lakers fans have been left to wonder what their squad will look like this upcoming October.
In a recent article by Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, he details one scenario that could be the best possible outcome for the Purple and Gold. According to him, the team should consider sending both Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook to Brooklyn for LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant.
An NBA insider had a different (and broader) take on Irving and the Nets.
“Kyrie is the move. They should offer Davis with Westbrook. Try and get Kevin Durant. KD for AD and a pick is as close as [the Nets] will get to what they want.”
That may or may not be true considering that Davis hasn’t been consistently healthy, and the Boston Celtics might be able to trump a Lakers offer with Jaylen Brown as a centerpiece.
Of course, that’s not the only option on the table for L.A. Despite limited assets, they could pull off a deal with both the Nets and Pacers that would also bring in Buddy Hield or Myles Turner with Kyrie.
An Indiana package may offer more depth, but is it enough?
“What do Buddy and Turner do for the Lakers? Add a 5 percent chance the team wins a title?” an NBA executive said. “That’s probably worth one protected first, but certainly not two.”
“Maybe if they could combine the Nets and Pacers into one trade, bring back Kyrie, Turner and Buddy, that’d be worth giving up a couple of firsts,” the executive continued. “Even if that saved the Nets a ton of money and Indiana got two firsts out of it, do they agree to work together to help LeBron and the Lakers contend?”
Whatever is most or least likely, the Lakers should strongly consider using Anthony Davis as leverage to acquire both KD and Kyrie. Together, a big three of that caliber could easily go all the way.
Best of all, the Lakers would finally be rid of Westbrook, who has caused nothing but problems since his arrival.
It’s a risky move and a long shot as things appear now, but the Lakers are always in the thick of things on the trade front and pulling off a deal that unites three of the game’s top players wouldn’t be uncharted waters for the crew.
