The seasons of both the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t go nearly as planned. Both teams were expected to be fighting it out for the NBA Championship right now, but both teams have already been sitting at home for a while now.
The Brooklyn Nets saw their season end very early when the Boston Celtics swept them in the first round of the Playoffs, the only sweep of the playoffs so far. Meanwhile, the Lakers couldn’t even make it to the play-in tournament, finishing as the 11th seed in the Western Conference despite LeBron James averaging 30 points for the season.
With their respective team issues this season, many have started floating around trade ideas for both teams to be more competitive next season. A solution that Twitter has come up with? Trade Kyrie Irving for Russell Westbrook and shake the teams up.
Make it happen. pic.twitter.com/XXbOUlDJYi
— Hoops (@HoopMixOnly) May 22, 2022
While this trade may seem insane, there is a small reason why this could actually be possible. Westbrook will be on an expiring contract after this season and is a consistently available player, unlike Kyrie Irving. However, their skill-sets are wildly different and it’s unlikely Durant and Russ can have a positive relationship after how their playoff runs together on OKC Thunder ended. This is what fans have had to say.
KD gonna be on his burner account 24/7 if this happened
— Isaiah Billionaire Bass (@drizzysr) May 22, 2022
Believe it or not Westbrook is a better fit with KD that Kyrie as Russ is a better facilitator.
And Kyrie is a better fit with Lebron as Kyrie is clutch and can save Lebrons ass again
— ZeroSugarCoating (@keepitrealist81) May 23, 2022
It's been bad blood between Russell and KD every since KD left OKC for Golden State… and Kyrie has stated that he doesn't want to play w/ LeBron again because he doesn't want to be 2nd to him like in Cleveland so neither of these are gonna happen dream on my guy….
— Lynn Williams (@10f0ne) May 23, 2022
— defensivelessons (@LaYsWRLDDD) May 23, 2022
Would love to see bron and kyrie on the same team again though. That was a duo that broke up way too early 😭
— Andrew Capone (@AndrewCapone92) May 22, 2022
All this just to beat curry? Now we know Durant wasn’t the reason they won as much as he was just a part of the great coaching and team. How you got kyrie, harden, and can’t win, but LeBron AND curry did it with the same players
— Conscience (@CONsNCE) May 23, 2022
https://twitter.com/Andrewl3loom/status/1528563507012288512
We counting on you this off-season LéGM https://t.co/HiEWsxlyV7
— D🧙🏽♂️ (@bandsome_dee) May 23, 2022
This would be the Nets worst nightmare lol 😂 https://t.co/KYpeo8lTvG
— Omar (@Kandilo0o0) May 23, 2022
This trade is not going to be realistically feasible. There are way too many things in the way of making this possible. Even if we forget the personal relationships these players have with their teammates, on the court, this is not a fit either team would want.
The Lakers want more 3-and-D players that can operate without the ball, not something Kyrie provides. Similarly, the Nets cannot expect to have lineups where they play a non-floor spacing Russ along with Ben Simmons. Too much goes wrong for both teams in this situation, so it is best to leave this for NBA 2K from both GMs perspectives.
