With the news of Kevin Durant requesting a trade from the Brooklyn Nets, it has opened up a lot of new paths for other NBA franchises in the league to bolster their respective squads.
Although the main focus of attention has been one Kevin Durant over the last few days, the Nets are most likely set to lose their other superstar in Kyrie Irving as well, if KD indeed gets traded to another team.
While the Nets have set a high demand for KD, they are pretty lenient in their negotiations involving Kyrie. After all, the 1x NBA champion has only one year on his contract and has a bit more leverage over the Nets than his best friend Kevin Durant.
As of now, the Los Angeles Lakers are constantly being viewed as the favorites to land Irving. Adding Kyrie to the roster will serve as hitting two birds with one stone for the Purple and Gold.
First, they will instantly become one of the favorites to win the title next season with a superteam of Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis. Second, it would also help the Lakers in getting rid of the huge contract of Russell Westbrook.
But considering that Kyrie is one of the top players in the league, there are other teams interested in trading for the 30-year-old as well. As per NBA insider Shams Charania, the Dallas Mavericks and the Philadelphia 76ers are in pursuit of Kyrie as well.
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What will follow for the Nets after they trade Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving?@Russ_Dorsey1 & @ShamsCharania discuss on @TheRally. 🏀 pic.twitter.com/lyFhJ85VnP
— FanDuel Sports Network (@FanDuelSN) July 3, 2022
“Kyrie Irving is one guy who I think we’ve gotta pay attention to. He has several suitors involved when you talk about Lakers, 76ers, Mavericks. I would keep an eye on Kyrie Irving over the next couple of weeks as well as a guy that is likely going to potentially get moved, and Kevin Durant asking out probably opens the window for him too. There are several teams engaged in trying to get Kyrie Irving as well.”
Despite all his shenanigans, Irving is one of the best players in the league when healthy. He is an elite point guard and has a knack for scoring with ease.
But the biggest issue with him remains his inability to play basketball for long for various reasons. It has been proven in the past that LeBron James has managed to keep Irving in check. Keeping that in mind, despite interest from other teams, the Lakers should still be the heavy favorites to trade for Kyrie.
