Lakers and Nets Should Swap Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook For Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving
The Los Angeles Lakers are desperate to shake up and reinvigorate their franchise and put a contender around LeBron James. They'd really like to do it on the cheap too, but as The Rolling Stones say, you can't have it all folks. So the Lakers should just do something crazy and trade for Kevin Durant.
The rumors that Kyrie Irving is coming are already swirling, but that doesn't quite make sense for anyone. Literally anyone in the NBA according to Woj.
ESPN Sources: Outside of the Lakers, there are currently no known teams planning pursuit of sign-and-trades for Nets G Kyrie Irving. No sign-and-trades can be formally discussed until after 6 PM on Thursday. Brooklyn isn't believed to have interest in available Lakers packages.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 27, 2022
That's why KD should be the real target for any serious team. Since the Lakers are currently not that, then they could just go after KD and Kyrie. Simply give the Nets Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook and whatever the heck else you need to do to make that work. How's that for a package, Brooklyn?
Everyone gets rid of their headaches. Everybody gets fresh new headaches and a new lease on life. The Lakers get championship aspriations and the Brooklyn Nets get Anthony Davis through the '24-'25 season and should be able to sell him on an extension after that if he can get healthy.
Plus you've got Westbrook's massive expiring contract. Then after this season you get to pitch Brooklyn and Davis to prospective free agents. Just look this random assortment of stars who could be free agents next offseason: LeBron James, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving... OK, maybe they could save the money for the next year.
Anyway, LeBron James and Kevin Durant on the same team would be cool. The one superteam that we never dared to dream of during their absolute apex primes. Sure, Kyrie would be a pretty big distraction, but what isn't these days? It's better than anything else the Lakers could do.
Let's make this happen! It's the ultimate move of a truly drunk league. It involves the biggest stars and it gives the Golden State Warriors the Voltron of rivals. The guys who beat them in '16. The former teammate with the hard feelings. It's too dumb not to work.