NBA
Nets Owner Joe Tsai Refused To Send Kyrie Irving To The Lakers In A Somewhat Spiteful Way
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated06 Feb 2023
After it was announced that Kyrie Irving requested a trade from the Nets, teams started calling quickly to acquire the superstar. The Lakers, Clippers, Suns, and Mavericks all were in talks with Brooklyn. News broke yesterday that the Nets were trading the former NBA champ to the Dallas Mavericks. We got even more details on the situation and it Irving’s preferred trade destination was the Lakers, but Brooklyn’s owner Joe Tsai thought otherwise.
Kyrie Irving and Markieff Morris were traded to the Mavericks in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorain Finney-Smith, a 2029 unprotected first-round pick and a 2027 and 2029 second-round as well. LeBron James absolutely had some say in the Lakers pursuit of Irving, but it seems like they might have never had a chance.
Joe Tsai made it very clear that the one place he did not want to send Irving was the Lakers and he was successful in doing so. After the Kyrie Irving trade, NBA betting sites have the Mavericks at (+1000) to win the Finals this season.
Nets owner Joe Tsai's objective was to not send Kyrie to the Lakers, per @TheSteinLine pic.twitter.com/VXjbaAcjuZ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 6, 2023
The Lakers never hand a chance in trading for Kyrie Irving
NBA insider Marc Stein broke the news yesterday that Irving’s trade destination was in fact the Lakers. However, Brooklyn’s owner Joe Tsai had just one stipulation; that Irving would not be traded to the Lakers. Hence the reason that Irving ended up on the Dallas Mavericks.
Kyrie likely wanted a reunion with LeBron James who he won a title with in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The trio of Irving, LeBron, and Anthony Davis would have been fun to watch, but Tsai was never going to let that happen.
Ian Begley reported that the Lakers offer for Irving included Russell Westbrook and two-first round picks. The Nets were more interested in adding players who can help the team now like Dinwiddie and Finney-Smith. LA formerly said they wanted to hold onto their first-round picks for the future unless a superstar became available. Irving was absolutely that type of player, but he was never going to the Lakers.
