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Kevin Durant requested to be traded from the Brooklyn Nets a few hours before free agency began on June 30. It opened up another prospect for teams around the league.
Durant's move was also seen as a chance to land former NBA champion and seven-time All-Star Kyrie Irving on their roster. The Los Angeles Lakers have been touted as the favorites in the Kyrie Irving sweepstakes. However, two other major teams have also come to light as the favorites to land Irving.
The Athletic's Shams Charania, in an interview on Bally Sports' "The Rally," talked about the teams that are currently pursuing Irving:
"They can go get a big haul for a guy like Kevin Durant, you can probably try to get a core player, you can get draft picks, there's a lot that you can go out in the marketplace and get."
"Kyrie Irving is one guy who I think we gotta pay attention to, he has several suitors involved when you talk about Lakers, Sixers, Mavericks. I would keep an eye on Kyrie Irving over the next couple of weeks as well as a guy that is likely going to potentially get moved"
The Brooklyn Nets are a failed experiment at best. After being swept in the first-round of the playoffs, Kyrie Irving reaffirmed to the media that he would stay in Brooklyn.
The current status of Durant and Irving leaving the Brooklyn Nets
The Nets find themselves putting their best players on the trade block yet again. However, things aren't as smooth as they were back in February. Sean Marks and company acquired Ben Simmons in exchange for James Harden.
Kevin Durant has listed the Phoenix Suns and the Miami Heat as the teams he would prefer to play for. But neither of those teams have sent anything favorable towards the Nets yet.
The Nets already have Ben Simmons on a designated rookie-extension contract. But the CBA rules restrict the Nets from acquiring Bam Adebayo or Devin Booker in a sign-and-trade.
Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving's trade prospects are looking up. According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, the LA Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets are currently mulling over a Irving-for-Westbrook trade.
The Brooklyn Nets, after acquiring three of the best players the league has ever seen, find themselves in dire straits.
Guess the Lakers players!
