Lakers Discussed Kyrie Irving Trade During Season, per Report

With the team struggling, the Lakers considered an in-season trade for the Nets star point guard.

When Kyrie Irving was away from the Nets earlier this season due to New York City’s vaccine mandate that barred him from participating in home games, the star point guard wondered if the team considered trading him.

Irving mentioned those thoughts that he had during the season with Eddie Gonzalez of The ETCs podcast.

“I was wondering at home what my future was going to look like, you know? Whether I was going to be traded, whether I was going to be released, whether I was going to get the opportunity to be on another team, how I was going to spin this for myself in a positive way,” Irving said.

While several outlets reported the possibility of the Nets being open to moving Kyrie, SNY’s Ian Begley is reporting that some members of the Lakers organization discussed the possibility of trading for Irving in the middle of the year while the franchise struggled.

A deal involving the Lakers would have been interesting, considering that Irving would have been reunited with LeBron in Los Angeles, while Russell Westbrook would have likely been moved as part of the deal, reuniting him with Kevin Durant.

Begley notes in his report that it’s unclear if the Lakers reached any internal consensus on Irving at the time, but with Irving now a free agent this summer and having long been allowed to play in Brooklyn once again, it seems likely the Nets will re-sign him to a multi-year extension.

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