Lakers Rumors: A Kyrie Irving trade almost happened last weekend

The Los Angeles Lakers and the league at large continue to remain at a standstill in the free agency department with everyone’s eyes set on Brooklyn.

However, just because nothing has really happened yet with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving doesn’t mean there aren’t any new developments surrounding the trade discussions surrounding each superstar.

In regards to the latter figure of the Nets’ disgruntled duo, here are the latest headlines and rumors regarding the Lakers’ pursuit to bring Kyrie to Los Angeles:

Kyrie Irving seems destined to be a Laker

Although negotiations between the Lakers and Nets have seemingly stalled as a third team such as the Spurs might need to get involved, all rumors coming out still point towards Kyrie eventually joining LeBron James and Anthony Davis with the Lakers.

And although it it hasn’t actually happened just yet, it seems as if a trade was almost made over the 4th of July weekend — if reports from SNY’s Ian Begley are to be believed.

Here’s what he said while joining Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer in a Callin episode of “Please Don’t Aggregate This” (emphasis mine):

“I know that some people with the Lakers, they felt there was pretty good momentum towards getting something to the finish line, close to the finish line, on Russell Westbrook and Kyrie last weekend. And obviously, it falls apart and maybe that has to do with what the Nets ultimately want from that transaction. But it just shows you how many different pieces have to fall into place to actually get something done here.”

Normally, doubt may settle in if a week passes after teams fail to consummate a deal, but the Lakers still seem to be in the driver’s seat to acquire Kyrie Irving given the fact that by all accounts they are still the only interested party.

Here’s what the newly-memed, possibly omniscient Brian Windhorst had to say yesterday on ESPN’s “Get Up” about recent reports of the 76ers or Mavericks possibly joining the Lakers as suitors for a Kyrie trade (h/t to our friends at Nets Daily for the transcription):

“We have heard more in the last week about teams that have no interest in Kyrie than we have about teams that do have interest,” he said. “There was some reports that maybe Philly, maybe Dallas, and those teams very quickly pushed back on it. ‘No, no, no, no. We don’t want him.’”

“So if you’re the Lakers, I’m saying, ‘Who we bidding against? Why should we include those things? Who are we bidding against? Why shouldn’t we protect those picks? Do you have another offer to make us change our stance?’ And that’s the position the Lakers are taking.”

All the rumors coming out now seem to indicate that the hold-up stems from the particulars of a deal, not the principals. Maybe the Nets would prefer a third team take on Westbrook, or they simply aren’t ready to move Kyrie until they’ve solved their Kevin Durant problem (more on that in a bit).

Either way, this much seems certain: Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, and the Lakers want this to happen.

In the same episode of “Get Up,” Windhorst detailed the following (h/t RealGM for transcribing):

“Kyrie Irving absolutely wants to be a Los Angeles Laker,” said Brian Windhorst. “This we know. The Lakers want Kyrie Irving.”

Lending some credence to this idea is the fact that Kyrie sure is spending a whole lot of time in Los Angeles right now. He appeared at the BET Awards a week ago, L.A. Times reporter Brad Turner indicated on Marc Stein’s Spotify Live session that he was recently playing pick-up games with other NBA players in the city, and he made a public appearance last night at an L.A. Sparks game (pictured below).

Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images

It may be just another case of an NBA player spending his offseason in the sunny City of Angels… or… he could just be biding his time there until the trade is official and he can take a short trip to the Lakers’ facilities for his introductory press conference. Personally, with absolutely no shred of bias, I’ll choose to believe it’s the latter.

LeBron James hates draft picks

Even before the possibility of trading for Kyrie Irving was presented to the Lakers, it had been reported that the team was hesitant to cough up draft compensation to get rid of Russell Westbrook. It remains a talking point, but, to the surprise of no one, there’s one guy within the Lakers who doesn’t mind parting with more first-round picks: LeBron James.

Brian Windhorst had this to say on “Get Up” about The King’s lack of interest in protecting the Lakers’ future assets (h/t Jonathan Sherman and Lakers Daily):

“I can’t articulate how little LeBron cares about the Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick,” he said, spurring hearty chuckles from his fellow pundits. “He’s never cared about first-round…