Proposed 3-Team Trade Sends Lakers a New Superstar

The Los Angeles Lakers have entered the offseason with a few major needs. They have to rearrange the roster and trade players who failed to make an impact. Russell Westbrook is the first name that pops in your mind, right? Rob Pelinka has been advised to send many players away, and yes, analysts mentioned LeBron James and Anthony Davis, too. We have been hearing about these trade options for quite some time. The latest trade proposal gives the Lakers a new superstar.

Kevin O’Connor from The Ringer bets on a three-team trade. O’Connor believes that Pelinka will have to look for a third trade partner. His scenario involves the Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, and Brooklyn Nets. It sends Kyrie Irving to LA.

“How about the Lakers? LeBron should be trying to say goodbye to Russell Westbrook but he wouldn’t make sense for Brooklyn, meaning a three-way deal would need to happen with Russ getting sent elsewhere,” O’Connor detailed on April 27, 2022. “Marc Stein reported on his Substack that Charlotte is a potential landing spot for Westbrook, so perhaps a larger deal with more pieces and picks involved (Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward to Brooklyn?) could get Irving to L.A.”

Lakers to trade for new superstar amid shaky season?

Irving missed a big chunk of the regular season due to COVID protocols. His game is sharp, but Nets general manager Sean Marks didn’t want to make any comments about Irving’s future with the team.

“Yeah look, I think that’s something we’ve been discussing, and we will continue to debrief on and discuss throughout this offseason and it’s honestly not just Kyrie,” Marks explained during a May 11 press conference. “I mean, you bring Kyrie up, but we have decisions to make on a variety of different free agents throughout our roster.

“We haven’t had any of those discussions yet, so it’d be unfair for me to comment on how it looks with us and Kyrie because, to be quite frank, he has some decisions to make on his own. So, he has to look at what he’s gonna do with his player option and so forth like that, but I think we know we’re looking for. We’re looking for guys that want to come in here, be part of something bigger than themselves, play selfless, play team basketball and be available. And that goes not only for Kyrie but for everybody here.”

Irving is in an interesting situation with LeBron James. There was a big tension between these two many years ago and Irving requested a trade. He took a shot at LeBron by saying that Kevin Durant is the best clutch player he has worked with. Of course, Irving offered an explanation and showed his respect for LeBron. He claims that those comments had nothing to do with his respect for the king. Will these two ever get to play together?