Once seen as the frontrunner in the Kyrie Irving sweepstakes, the Los Angeles Lakers are going home empty-handed.
On Saturday afternoon, the Brooklyn Nets traded the disgruntled guard to the Dallas Mavericks for two players and multiple draft picks.
How close were the Lakers to landing Irving? Not very close, according to SNY’s Ian Begley, who said earlier in the week that Los Angeles sent an offer to the Nets for Irving, which included Russell Westbrook and a first-round pick.
The Lakers trade package is far from what the Nets ultimately received from the Mavericks, Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a first-round, and several second-round draft choices.
Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers and Nets had more than one conversation about a potential deal for Irving. However, along with the Lakers’ lackluster offer and unwillingness to budge on its insistence on a contract extension with Irving, Brooklyn felt that receiving a point guard and wing player back they could “plug in now” made the difference.
After missing out on Irving, the question for the Lakers is, where do they go from here?
Options are limited, especially if the Lakers’ hesitation to include its 2027 and 2029 first-round picks in a deal continues. However, with LeBron James and a healthy Anthony Davis, the Lakers have a legitimate shot at doing damage in the West, but they’ll undoubtedly need more pieces.
According to Yahoo Sports Jake Fischer, the Utah Jazz is still a potential trade partner for Westbrook. Per Fischer, a deal would “almost certainly” include veteran Mike Conley, Malik Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt.
