In the last week-plus there have been all kinds of Kyrie Irving trade rumors, most of which have linked him, general manager Sean Marks and the Brooklyn Nets to the only team that seems to be interested: the Los Angeles Lakers.
There were reports that the Lakers thought the deal was almost done last weekend, speculation that the two sides could land the San Antonio Spurs in a complex multi-team deal, and rumblings of disagreement within the Lakers’ think tank over whether or not Irving was the most the good goal for the team. Everything hangs over the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, with Russell Westbrook and LeBron James watching from opposite sides of the arena Friday night as fans chanted for general manager Rob Pelinka to trade his own disgruntled point guard for Brooklyn’s.
So with that context — and a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski during Friday’s broadcast that “The Nets and Lakers really aren’t committed right now to Kyrie Irving” — it’s remarkable that Pelinka and Marks were caught with what appeared to be quite an engaging conversation right next to Woj himself during the Saturday afternoon games.
Nets GM Sean Marks is now talking to Lakers GM Rob Pelinka.
Rumors abound since Kevin Durant’s trade request that a trade between Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook has been discussed pic.twitter.com/CZOhR53a3v
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) July 9, 2022
Before that conversation, however, Marc Stein was the latest to report that we shouldn’t necessarily be holding our breath for an impending Irving deal (via Substack ):
League sources say the Nets are A) focused on trying to piece together an acceptable Kevin Durant deal before moving on to Irving scenarios and B) adamant in their opposition to bringing Westbrook back in a theoretical trade without Irving, to begin with , some first-round draft compensation added by the Lakers. Remember, Westbrook is slated to make nearly $11 million more than Irving next season, which would cost Brooklyn an additional $50 million after accounting for luxury tax penalties, according to an article earlier this week by my colleague at Bleacher Report Jake Fischer.
So, with all that said… What do you think Pelinka and Marks were discussing? I’m guessing their favorite frozen yogurt spots, but I’m sure all you seasoned lip readers will have a few more creative ideas in the comments below.
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