Lakers Rumors: Nets 'Prepared' to Keep Kyrie Irving & Kevin Durant

A recent report by ESPN's Brian Windhorst says that the Nets are exploring the possibility of keeping Kyrie Irving and not trading him to the Lakers.

Ever since Nets superstar Kevin Durant requested a trade on July 1st, the Lakers have been exploring a potential Kyrie Irving trade with Brookyn. There's been report after report, article after article, about the package Brooklyn is hoping to get in return from the Lakers. For many NBA insiders and analysts, it's been a forgone conclusion that eventually, a trade will happen.

On Wednesday morning, ESPN Brian Windhorst suggested that Brooklyn is in fact not dead set on honoring Kevin Durant's trade request, nor shipping Kyrie to the Lakers.

"Boy is that is the vibe that is coming out of Brooklyn right now - that they're prepared to do that. This could be a negotiating position, or it could be a smart decision. If you don't like the trade offers that you have, the market for Kevin Durant has not been as lucrative as the Nets were hoping and the market for Kyrie Irving is very thin. The trade offer isn't great. If you don't like what you have, you just close ranks and look at restarting it."

Various reports have cited that the Nets want at least one first-round pick in return from LA, and that a second LA first-rounder would likely have to be included to entice a third team to take on Russell Westbrook and his $47.1M expiring contract. Some of those same reports have stated that Rob Pelinka and the Lakers want nothing to do with a Kyrie trade resulting in sending out LA's 2027 and 2029 first-round picks.

As Windhorst notes, the messaging from Brooklyn about keeping both superstars could be genuine, or, could be posturing in an attempt to up the Lakers bid for Kyrie. 

Problem is, the Lakers are currently the only team entertaining the idea of trading for Kyrie.

At the moment, it doesn't appear that a Lakers-Kyrie trade is imminent.