At some point, Kyrie Irving could get traded by the Brooklyn Nets. Whether it’s next week, next month or at the trade deadline; it’ll come at some point.
We’ve speculated as to who might be the team to land Irving, who has been ordered by the Nets to stay away while he refuses to get the New York mandated COVID-19 vaccine. Teams like the Portland Trail Blazers and Dallas Mavericks have come up.
The one idea, with the image circulating around the internet has the Nets and Los Angeles Lakers trading Irving for Russell Westbrook.
Unless you have NBA2K, this trade will never work.
Irving isn’t allowed to play for the Nets because of the New York mandate on all athletes having the vaccine. The state of California literally has the same mandate too, which would prevent Kyrie from playing in any home games for the Lakers.
Let’s not forget how Irving wanted to get away from LeBron after the 2017 season and forced the Cleveland Cavaliers to trade him, which, if didn’t happen, Kyrie would have opted for knee surgery and missed most of the next year, which is why he went to the Boston Celtics.
If Kyrie really realized that mistake and wanted to play with LeBron again, he’d have either signed as a free agent two summers ago, or, if he wanted to get traded and get the vaccine, had LeBron and the Lakers make a trade with Brooklyn during the summer before the NBA Draft to get Kyrie to the Lakers.
But again, LeBron and Kyrie don’t want to be teammates. And thus, they aren’t.
Speaking of players who don’t want to be teammates. Should we forget the turmoil of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook? Or Westbrook and James Harden.
The demise of Westbrook and KD was why Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors. Their relationship deteriorated and never recovered. They have since not been teammates and aren’t looking to be again.
And speaking of another deteriorating relationship; Westbrook and Harden in Houston with the Rockets.
That lasted all of one season before Westbrook was traded to the Washington Wizards for John Wall. Harden and Durant have since reunited in Brooklyn and are trying to make it work.
But losing Irving, who when healthy and focused, is an elite basketball player, and it hurts the Nets. Without Kyrie, Brooklyn isn’t as strong of a contender as they once were when they made the franchise-altering trade to land Harden.
Again, at some point, the Nets will trade Kyrie Irving. Unless one morning, he realizes he should just do what’s needed and gets the vaccine and re-joins the Nets.
But he isn’t. So at some point, the Nets will have to trade Kyrie. But it won’t be to the Lakers.
