Lakers: LA’s Kyrie Irving Trade Chase Takes Shocking Twist [RUMOR]

After a disappointing 2021-2022 season, the Los Angeles Lakers are working out to improve their roster to become contenders for the NBA championship title this upcoming season. One of the primary options is signing superstar guard Kyrie Irving.

According to a report from NBC Sports, the Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets are actively working out the Kyrie Irving-Russel Westbrook trade.

However, the Lakers are reportedly not being aggressive in the blockbuster trade negotiations. Possibly the Lakers don't want to sound too frantic.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that a source told him that the Lakers have "yet to be aggressive" in putting up a deal to obtain Kyrie Irving from the Nets.

"That may come. That may evolve with time. But so far, there's no traction really on deals with either Irving or Kevin Durant," he added.

The Lakers are doing a poor job if they aren't actively attempting to accomplish an Irving-Westbrook trade.

Irving would be a major improvement over Westbrook in terms of both skill level and chemistry with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Westbrook has shown he won't help the Lakers win big during LeBron's peak, although he is more dependable than Irving.

Before the start of the upcoming season, Irving will reportedly don a Lakers suit if LeBron James gets his way. Per Lakers Nation, LeBron is confident that they can achieve that level once more because the two flourished in Cleveland together, taking home the championship in 2016.

Although it hasn't occurred yet, reports that LeBron wants Irving to join the Lakers more than anybody else won't go away soon.

Reluctancy on The Lakers' Part

The Lakers are reluctant to swap their first-round picks to sign a player whose contract is about to expire. Westbrook has one of the highest salaries in the NBA despite being on an expiring contract too.

Los Angeles is frantically trying to trade Irving for Russell Westbrook and his enormous $47 million contract, but they are hesitant to add the numerous draft picks the Nets would demand in exchange for taking on all that debt.

No team would want to trade multiple picks for Irving at this time due to doubts about his availability and willingness to accept a new contract. With Irving, the Lakers have a tremendous opportunity to increase their chances of winning the championship, but they must take a huge risk by giving up a draft pick.

The 2027 and 2029 first-round picks are the only two that the Lakers can trade. Given that LA won't be able to rebuild without both picks, keeping them both makes sense since they will be in their control long after the LeBron era.

Bursting The Lakers' Fans Bubble

A fan-made the decision to dampen the anticipation among Laker supporters for a Kyrie-AD combo, per Fadeaway World. She reminded them that AD and Kyrie are infamous for being unavailable for long durations of a season.

However, if Irving moved to the Lakers for the season, fans would be hoping AD and Kyrie put on solid performances for the squad.