Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports reported Sunday that the Nets and Lakers are “actively engaged” in talks that could send Kyrie Irving and Joe Harris to the Lakers for Russell Westbrook and wipe out compensation.
The Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets are actively involved in discussions about a commercial package that would send star baseman Russell Westbrook to Brooklyn in exchange for star baseman Kyrie Irving, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
There is palpable optimism that an agreement can be reached between the two parties this low season, but some obstacles remain, sources said.
However, while Los Angeles-based Haynes wrote that there is “palpable optimism,” he also cites Nets sources as saying the talks “have only been preliminary.” In addition, Athletic’s Alex Schiffer told ESPN Radio that he has been told the report is inaccurate.
Schiffer also tweeted how to try to run an offensive through two non-firing guards as Westbrook and Ben Simmons would never work.
The boy on the right is why a deal for the boy on the left makes no sense. An offensive genius like Mike D’Antoni couldn’t plan an offensive around two bases that didn’t shoot like those two. https://t.co/c8Zt7lyURy
– Alex Schiffer (@Alex__Schiffer) July 3, 2022
The report also opposes several other reports that the Nets will not move into Irving’s commercial scenarios until Kevin Durant’s exchange is complete.
This is the second time in two days that an agreement focusing on Irving and Westbrook has been discussed online.
On Friday morning, Legion Hoops reported that there were discussions between the two teams …
SOURCE: The Lakers are working aggressively on a deal for Kyrie Irving: their current offer is Russell Westbrook, Talen Horton-Tucker and their first-round pick from 2027. Joe Harris could go to Los Angeles with the agreement. pic.twitter.com/oRAjIPMj3f
– Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) July 1, 2022
Haynes said the points of contention include the scope of the draft compensation and whether it would include Harris, who is expected to earn $ 38 million over the next two years.
The Lakers have been reluctant to include Harris and are instead looking for insertion of shooter Seth Curry as part of the deal, sources said.
Curry has a $ 8.5 million deal that expires.
Curry and Harris rank third and fourth respectively in 3-point shooting percentage of all time.
Westbrook will earn $ 47.1 million this season in the final year of his five-year contract and $ 205 million signed while he was with the Thunder in 2017. That’s $ 10 million more than Irving who opted for his option of $ 36.9 million player this week.
The Nets are reportedly willing to treat Irving with LA, their favorite landing site, as long as it doesn’t add to Brooklyn’s financial commitments next season. An agreement that included Harris would reduce Nets ’payroll by approximately $ 8 million.
Of course, including Harris, the fan favorite and the player with the most time in black and white, could indicate that the Nets are in a deep rebuild, reducing wages and luxury taxes, while increasing their stock of selection. draft. A counterpoint to that scenario, however, is that the Nets added $ 9.2 million to their payroll on Thursday when they traded a first-round pick to Utah for Royce O’Neale.
Haynes said nothing is imminent.
The Nets are not expected to rush to a deal and will continue to talk about the intricate details with the Lakers in an Irving-Westbrook exchange.