In the NBA, there are a lot of times when teams turn to trades that involve multiple teams in order to get what they want. Obviously, multi-team blockbuster trades are hard to execute, but that doesn’t mean that teams can’t try to make them happen.
A recent report by LJ Ellis of SpursTalk revealed that the San Antonio Spurs, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Brooklyn Nets could potentially enact a deal that would send Kyrie Irving to the Los Angeles Lakers, and Russell Westbrook would likely go to the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs reportedly want a first-round pick to help the Lakers and Nets with this transaction.
3) How do the Spurs plan to use their cap space? The Spurs are actively looking to rent out their cap space in exchange for draft capital. With All-Stars like Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell on the trade market, the Spurs are hoping to be handsomely rewarded for helping to facilitate the acquisition of one of those big names.
4) According to multiple sources, the trade that is closest to happening involves Kyrie Irving being sent to the Los Angeles Lakers and Russell Westbrook being routed to the Spurs. To facilitate that trade, the sources tell me the Spurs want an unprotected first round pick from the Lakers.
There is no doubt that this is a shrewd move by the San Antonio Spurs. They could potentially just buy out Russell Westbrook’s contract after trading for him while getting a first-round pick from the Los Angeles Lakers in the process. There was a recent report that suggested the Brooklyn Nets wanted two first-round picks to take on Russell Westbrook and send Kyrie Irving to the Lakers, and it seems as though that extra first-round pick would be used to re-route Russell Westbrook to the Spurs.
This trade would also benefit the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets, as both teams would move off of players that didn’t have good tenures with them. It remains to be seen if a deal with this framework will in fact happen, but it definitely seems like a beneficial arrangement for all three teams.
