How Lakers and Nets Can Unlock the Power of Large Multiple Team Trades
The Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers are actively engaged in a mega trade that would swap superstars Kyrie Irving and either Joe Harris or Seth Curry for Russell Westbrook and a 2027 and 2029 first round draft picks.
While various rumors have emerged saying the Nets are prioritizing trading Kevin Durant before Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn might have a better advantage in pulling off a blockbuster Kevin Durant trade if they traded Kyrie Irving first. While it may take time to sift through the offers to trade Durant, the Russ for Kyrie trade is fairly straightforward and would give the Lakers and Nets the opportunity to expand the trade to include KD and other players and teams.
Large multiple team trades make it much easier for teams to match salaries and even give teams opportunities to create cap space within the trade that can be used to save salary expense, clean up their cap, or avoid luxury taxes. The Nets are obviously looking to include as much salary as they can, which is why they want to include Harris and his 2-year $28.6 million contract while the Lakers prefer receiving Seth Curry and his 1-year $8.2 million contract.
Expanding the Westbrook for Irving trade to include additional players and teams would allow the Nets and the Lakers to take advantage of easier salary matching and deal making ability that comes with large multiple team trades.
1. Westbrook & Picks for Irving & Harris
The basic starting parameters of the proposed blockbuster trade being discussed by the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers is Russell Westbrook and a 2027 and 2029 first round draft pick for Kyrie Irving and Joe Harris.
Per reports from Chris Haynes, the two sides have two differences to resolve. The first is which players will be included besides Russ and Kyrie and the second is what will be the draft compensation the Lakers will offer the Nets. With the Hawks and Jazz trading five unprotected first round draft picks, expect the Nets to be demanding both Lakers picks be unprotected. Brooklyn also wants to include the more expensive Joe Harris instead of Seth Curry.
Realistically, the challenge for the Lakers is to expand the Russ and Kyrie trade and take advantage of how much easier it is to make salaries match when expanding the trade to include additional Laker and Net players. Multiple team trades with max salary players make it easier to match salaries that stand alone trades because the large dollars dramatically increase the dollars in salary that teams can take back in trade versus standalone deals.
While trading Russell Westbrook and their unprotected 2027 and 2029 first round picks for Kyrie Irving and Joe Harris would be a massive win for the Los Angeles Lakers but there’s a good chance the Lakers can improve the trade.
2. Westbrook & Picks for Irving & Curry
The Los Angeles Lakers would prefer to have Steph Curry’s 1-year $8.2 million contract as the additional Nets’ contract included in the Westbrook and Irving trade as salary ballast instead of Joe Harris’ 2-year 28.6 million contract.
While many pundits have predicted Brooklyn wouldn’t trade Kyrie Irving until they trade Kevin Durant, it appears that the Lakers and Nets are getting close to consummating a Westbrook for Irving trade sometime in the next few days. While nobody knows if the Nets want to go into total rebuild mode, Nets; GM Sean Marks apparently wants to include Joe Harris as salary ballast in the trade instead of Steph Curry, who makes less and has a shorter contract.
The Nets have also been spreading rumors that the Mavs and Sixers are also interested in trading for Kyrie Irving, although recent reports from both clubs say neither team has any serious interest whatsoever in trading for Irving. That simply confirms information that’s been public for a long time that the Los Angeles Lakers are the only suitor willing to make an offer to trade for Russell Westbrook. The Nets have no alternative to trade Kyrie Irving.
While the Lakers may prefer Steph Curry over Joe Harris as the second player in the Westbrook and Irving trade, their real objective is to expand the trade to include Horton-Tucker and/or Nunn to acquire more talent from the Nets.
3. Westbrook, THT, & Picks for Irving, Harris, & Curry
The Lakers would obviously love to expand the Westbrook and Irving trade to include Talen Horton-Tucker and Seth Curry and Joe Harris in response to the Nets’ desire to send out more money than they are taking back in the trade.
While sending Irving and Harris for Westbrook would save the Nets $8.4 million in annual salary and sending Irving and Curry would add $1.6 million in annual salary, sending both Harris and Curry could save $6.7 million. Whether the Nets desire to cut payroll would motivate them to send out both Harris and Curry is unknown. There does appear to be signs that the Nets could reap a record number of first round picks from trading Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant to replace the picks they had to give up to get James Harden.
If the Nets are truly going to undergo a complete rebuild, then it makes total sense to expand the Westbrook and Irving trade to include additional players from Brooklyn’s roster as well as expanding trade to other teams and players. Expanding the trade offers advantages to the Brooklyn Nets as well as the Los Angeles Lakers, including even the possibility of flipping Russell Westbrook’s $47 million expiring contract to another team looking to clean up cap space.
Landing both Kyrie Irving, Joe Harris, and Steph Curry would be the ultimate solution to the Lakers’ 3-point shooting woes while addressing the Nets’ desire to take back less money than they’re sending out in a Westbrook/Irving trade.
4. Westbrook, THT, Nunn, & Picks for Irving, Harris, Curry, & Claxton
The above trade is an example of how easy it is to expand large multiple team trades. There is no way in a straight trade that the Lakers could get Joe Harris, Steph Curry, and Nic Claxton for Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn.
The most the Lakers could bring back in a straight player trade of THT and Nunn would be $19.3 million in salaries. Because they’re adding these players to a trade involving two max or near max players, it’s easy to match salaries. But because these players are being added to the Westbrook and Irving trade, the Lakers are actually able to bring back Harris, Curry, and Claxton who have a total annual salaries of $36.6 million while saving the Nets $11.1 million.
The biggest benefit of expanding large trades is the ability to include multiple teams with dramatically easier salary matching for all involved teams. The Nets, for example, could easily involve a third team to absorb Russ’ contract. Similarly, the Lakers might to flip Harris, Curry, or Claxton to a fourth team in exchange for a bigger 3&D wing player who can guard the bigger scoring wings in the West like Kawai Leonard, Pau George, or Luka Doncic.
By expanding the Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving trade, the Los Angeles Lakers can find trades for talented players under contract who earn almost twice as much annual salary as allowed for smaller volume straight trades.
4. What about Lakers’ 2027 and 2029 First Round Picks?
The biggest negotiation issue in the proposed Westbrook for Irving trade between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets will be regarding the kind of protections on the Lakers’ 2027 and 2039 first round draft picks.
With the Nets giving the Rockets unprotected draft picks in the James Harden trade three years ago and the Hawks and Jazz giving the Spurs and Jazz unprotected picks this offseason, the Nets will demand same from Lakers. Giving up a pair of unprotected post LeBron James first round picks would be a painful first for the Lakers’ front office but could easily be a deal breaker when it comes to the Brooklyn Nets. In the end, the Lakers have no option.
Ideally, the Lakers will resist any attempt by the Nets to tie up their 2024 and 2026 first round picks with pick swaps. Acquiescing to making their 2027 and 2029 first round picks totally unprotected should be enough to close the deal. There’s no doubt this is a trade the Lakers desperately need so it’s unlikely that Los Angeles would kill any deal over draft protections or choice of salary ballast. Fortunately, you could say the same about the Brooklyn Nets.
The opportunity to end the Russell Westbrook experiment is critical as is the chance to land a pair of elite 3-point shooters like Irving and Harris at worst or quartet of rotation players like Irving, Harris, Curry, and Claxton at best.
If you enjoyed this article and want to share your ideas and comments with other Lakers fans, please join us at Lakerholics.Com.
