[HAYNES] Nets and Lakers actively talking Russ/Kyrie trade…

[coopboii]

Absolutely ridiculous, what is wrong with the Nets, if the Lakers add Kyrie I'm definitely not watching this joke of an upcoming season

You realize this trade absolutely does not put the Lakers over the top by any stretch, right? Still a flawed team, just will be better than last year, at least a playoff team...provided the big 3 stay healthy/ drama free lol

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[JoseRizal]

KD wants to play with Donovan Mitchell, right? Maybe the Nets could try to trade Kyrie to LAL and get Mitchell in return from Utah?

Not with Ben in the line-up...

[Rainwater]

You can always hold on to Kyrie and just let him walk for nothing in the offseason. Lakers aren't going to act desperate this time and are prepared for that with max cap space next offseason. You can't really fault the Lakers in this situation for setting their salaries/cap up like this and trying to improve their team.

I'm perfectly fine with keeping Kyrie and letting him suffer at home for the year. Lakers are desperate, lebron time is ticking and street clothes is not going to make his life easier. We all seen how last year played out with westbrick there, they are desperately trying to get rid of him. I highly doubt lakers want to waste another year of lebron, he might end up being the next one asking for a trade lol

This right here.

Sure, the Lakers might not care to keep Westbrook for another year since he's expiring but what about Lebron? Look at how angry he was at the FO last year because they refused to move off picks to improve the team (which was the right decision mind you). How do you think he's going to react to the Lakers refusing to trade more picks to not only get of Westbrook but ALSO get Kyrie and Harris/Seth? He's turning 38 this year, he probably won't even be in the league in a few years; he wants to win now and wasting another year can't be ideal for him. Not to mention his extension is coming up and that could be at risk if he's frustrated at the Lakers for not going doing the deal.

I'm not saying don't accept the Westbrook deal if I'm the Nets, just don't do it now. It's not going anywhere lol. Kyrie is untradeable to any other team but so is Westbrook. I don't care what these Laker fans say about this Darvin Ham nonsense, do they honestly believe Westbrook is going to change his game and "sacrifice" for a team that's openly trading him? They'll be better then last year not because the roster improved but because last year went so disastrously bad that it can't get any worse.

I just don't get why Brooklyn would rather lose Irving for nothing then gain assets just to stick it to the lakers? It just makes no sense. And since Westbrook is expiring there is a good chance Brooklyn could flip Westbrook for assets like Hayward if they chose to compete. If all fails just buy out Westbrook.

[PMONSTER]

It won't happen.... but I'd love to see KD and Westbrook have to play one more season together

[MemphisX]

Absolutely ridiculous, what is wrong with the Nets, if the Lakers add Kyrie I'm definitely not watching this joke of an upcoming season

3 posts per day to a hoops message board...somehow I am dubious.

[Wargreymon]

people really hate the lakers

I can think of 17 reasons other fanbases would hate on them...

[beeshma]

LeBron is in steep decline.
AD has been injured every year except the bubble title run (due to the shortened season)
Kyrie will provide flashy but non-impactful minutes like he has the past five seasons.

[Pharmcat]

The Nets aren't Laker-haters; their goal isn't to "not bail out" the Lakers. If (still quite a big if) all they can get for Kyrie is a 2027 1st, then they have to do that. And it that is a good enough package to land Kyrie, then blame the other 28 teams for not offering something better.

After last year why would any team want kyrie? The only reason lakers are interested is because they are desperate due to terrible management of their roster in last 2 years

If they get Kyrie and AD comes back strong, they are the favorites.

Biggest ifs ever

[FreeThrowLine]

Absolutely ridiculous, what is wrong with the Nets, if the Lakers add Kyrie I'm definitely not watching this joke of an upcoming season

If you think replacing Westbrook with Kyrie fixes all the issues this Laker team had I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

Could you be so kind as to point out where I said Kyrie fixes all the issues? Oh you can't? If you don't think Kyrie is a huge upgrade over WB then I'll sell you the bridge back at double your asking price

[RSP83]

Maybe when Russ gets traded to the Nets, he can convince KD to stay. I would love to see KD and Russ at peace with their career, reunite, and just play basketball. Especially Russ, Kyrie's act really put Russ in perspective. Here's a guy who people like to hate because of his style of play, but the guy just play basketball, and I never heard him being a toxic teammate. So, I wish Russ would find a team that he can return to playing at a high level and still have chance at winning championship. If KD can get his mind right and embrace Russ it could still work. I can see myself rooting for Brooklyn.

[Ballerhogger]

people really hate the lakers

I can think of 17 reasons other fanbases would hate on them...

[FreeThrowLine]

Absolutely ridiculous, what is wrong with the Nets, if the Lakers add Kyrie I'm definitely not watching this joke of an upcoming season

3 posts per day to a hoops message board...somehow I am dubious.

What are you on about? I I'm not on here posting every day, I might go weeks without posting, but reply to a particular topic a number of times when I do post and how is that even relevant to what I wrote? It's the offseason..

[tsherkin]

The best description I heard for Westbrook is that his skill-set and body type gave him the aging curve of an NFL Running Back. The way he plays the game makes being effective in the 30s extremely hard unless he completely revamp his game which he hasn't figure out how to do. Wade was a similar type and he fell off a cliff in his 30s too.

Wade fell off due to injury more than anything else. He never played 80 games a season in his career to begin with, and averaged 68 games per season, then 63 over the remainder of his career. He was almost never healthy because he too lacked reliable game beyond 10 feet. Or I should "scoring ability beyond 10 feet," because obviously he was savvy with pick-and-rolls.

But not adapting to ageing doesn't make them headcases.

100%. Westbrook isn't causing disruption by being a crazy bastard, just by not possessing game enough to back up his contract or role. There were a couple years where his relative inefficiency wasn't SO bad. League average TS% has risen enough to change that, but his scoring efficiency has actually worsened in the absolute, not just relatively, and his turnover rate has risen back to where it was early in his career as well. In 4 of the past 5 seasons, his scoring efficiency has been worse than it has since his first two seasons. Not as bad, because he was a sub-50% TS dude the first couple years, but worse than his customary 53% or so. That's ROUGH, particularly now.

He's incompetent from 3, and indeed unreliable past 16 feet (and really, past 10). He's become a sub-70% FT shooter, no less, wasting even more opportunities. He's really just degraded into a caricature at this stage. It's sad, too, because he still has bounce and quickness, he's just... He was never a particularly cerebral player to begin with but he's not quite as overwhelming, not as relentlessly athletic as he used to be and he has not actually seemed to improve any aspect of his game since coming into the league as far as scoring repertoire, which is a challenge for him as he ages and his athleticism erodes, if only somewhat.

Westbrook certainly knows how to spam assists. And he's still capable of doing that, as we've seen. 3 assist titles in 5 years didn't happen JUST from insane usage and it certainly isn't happening from bulk MP, because he's been a fairly well-managed 34-ish MPG player.

[HanzGruber]

The Nets aren't Laker-haters; their goal isn't to "not bail out" the Lakers. If (still quite a big if) all they can get for Kyrie is a 2027 1st, then they have to do that. And it that is a good enough package to land Kyrie, then blame the other 28 teams for not offering something better.

After last year why would any team want kyrie? The only reason lakers are interested is because they are desperate due to terrible management of their roster in last 2 years

If they get Kyrie and AD comes back strong, they are the favorites.

Lol doubt it. They’re always pre season favorites. Even when they can’t make the playoffs. The rest of the team is pretty weak

Do they even have a center. We know ad won’t be it full time

[Rainwater]

Absolutely ridiculous, what is wrong with the Nets, if the Lakers add Kyrie I'm definitely not watching this joke of an upcoming season

If you think replacing Westbrook with Kyrie fixes all the issues this Laker team had I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

Could you be so kind as to point out where I said Kyrie fixes all the issues? Oh you can't? If you don't think Kyrie is a huge upgrade over WB then I'll sell you the bridge back at double your asking price

If you didn't think lrving fixes the Lakers issues why would you stop watching then? Lol.

[BostonCouchGM]

there's no reason to just give Harris away in that deal. It's not like they will be up against the cap or anything. And Harris can be traded at any point this offseason, at the deadline or in the future for picks/young players. Teams will always pay for shooting.

The NBA is a scripted TV show. Most teams are just farm systems for big market teams with superstars. If Harris is dealt along with Kyrie to the Lakers this is all the proof you will ever need. This could only happen if the league forces it. A rising tide (TV money) lifts all boats (franchise values)

[fart]

I’m calling bull. Lakers don’t have the assets to get Pat Beverly, forget about Kyrie. You can hate Irving all you want but he’s still a top 5 scorer in the league and any contending team would chomp at the opportunity to add him even if it’s a one year rental. Just more bull from the media trying to keep this LA narrative alive. Lakers don’t have a single tradeable asset.

[Up-And-Coming]

Should be the Mavs imo

Irving/Burke/Jones
Bullock/Dinwidde/Hardy
Doncic/Finney-Smith/Green
Kleber/Bertans/Wright
Wood/?/Onu

So what do the Mavs trade for Kyrie?

[formula 400]

this is a horrible deal. Kyrie is still a star when he's on the floor, check the numbers. Westbrick is a negative on the floor. Joe Harris is a top 5 shooter that can do other things. I don't know how ya can't see the Lakers are making out like bandits here. Lebron and Kyrie is a way better fit and he's probably the only one that can talk some sense into that nutcase.

The numbers look shiny 'when' he plays. But has Kyrie impacted winning in anyway since leaving Cleveland. He has won 2 playoff series in the 5 seasons since he left Bron. He is not a winner and will destroy your team chemistry while also being on a 1 year deal where he will leave 99.9% if you trade for him. He is also 30 now and injury prone. The player I just described is not worth much. Lakers are the only team desperate to take Kyrie because of the massive failure that was the Westbrook trade. They also have Bron and coach Phil Handy who Kyrie respects.

Kyrie has done more since leaving cleveland than Westbrick has done since KD left. MVP of the league has got bounced in the first round how many times? He couldn't win with Harden, he's literally with thee best player and they had a horrible season with one of the worst records dude is not a winning player at all. Lebron literally won a ring with Kyrie, Wetsbrick comes to town and they can't even make the play in. Your point is invalid. Kyrie is miles better than westbrick. Then add a top 5 shooter to go along with him, this is highway robbery. This trade isn't close to being fair in value.

lakers are actually in the driver's seat in this case. KI is a huge headache that no one wants. i dont see the lakers giving up picks just to off WB. they would rather let him play another season and this time, under Ham. his contract is valuable by the end of the season for LA. the nets are in a horrible position and are receiving league lowball offers for KI. the nets no longer want KI and they end up taking what the lakers give them.

[sfernald]

I dont know about yall, but I dont take any rumor serious until this man vaguely talks about it

I will say Windy is coming into his prime as a tv head rumormonger. Really love listening to this guy chatter about trade possibilities.