Kyrie Irving opted into the final year of his deal with the Brooklyn Nets earlier this week, putting an end to a standoff that raised serious questions about what the future would hold for himself, the team, and Kevin Durant. One reported reason why this ended up being the case was Irving surveyed the league for a sign-and-trade, only to see none come to fruition.
The team that was linked the strongest to Irving was the Los Angeles Lakers, as reports indicated there was a sense Irving could find a way to reunite with LeBron James in L.A. But according to a new piece by Shams Charania of The Athletic, the team’s preference would have been for that to happen without a trade happening.
For their part, the Lakers were much more motivated to have Irving sign as a free agent than they were in acquiring the three-time All-NBA guard via trade, sources said. And as Irving went through his opt-in-and-trade options — as well as the potential of joining the Lakers in free agency — the decision to return to Brooklyn crystalized.
This, obviously, makes a ton of sense for the Lakers, as Irving would have needed to take a pay cut of about $30 million to come as a free agent. There’s also the matter of trying to figure out what the team would have needed to give up in a trade for Irving — L.A. only has a pair of future first round picks that can help facilitate a trade, while the player they most logically could have given up in an Irving trade if they did not have to incentivize a third team to come on board, Russell Westbrook, both had not picked up his player option yet and has a history with Durant.