Lakers warned over making russell westbrook for kyrie irving trade

The Los Angeles Lakers have been warned against trading Russell Westbrook for Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving despite their nightmare start to the NBA season. The Lakers reportedly pursued

the acquisition of Irving in the offseason and now find themselves winless after four matches. Over the 2022 offseason, there were numerous reports that the Lakers wanted to acquire Irving

to bolster their roster ahead of a championship push. The Lakers reportedly wanted the All-Star point guard before he opted into his contract with the Nets for the upcoming season. 

According to The Athletic, the Lakers reportedly wanted to offload Russell Westbrook, offering the former MVP and draft compensation for the services of Irving. Westbrook - who joined the

Lakers from the Washington Wizards in 2021 - opted into the final year of his contract, earning £39.7m, so Los Angeles were planning to match salaries in a potential trade. The move never

came about, but the Lakers are still interested in acquiring Irving’s services when he becomes a free agent next offseason. However, one NBA executive recently declared that even if the the

team signed Irving next summer, their fortunes would hardly improve.  READ MORE: MAGIC JOHNSON HAS LEBRON JAMES REGRET AND OPENS UP ON QUITTING LAKERS “They’re probably going to look for the

star, make another run at Kyrie Irving even though they don’t have the max to give him,” the unnamed executive told Heavy.com. “Though, no one is scared of them if you swap out Russell

Westbrook and put Kyrie on the team.” The claim that no teams would fear the Lakers even with Irving highlights just how poorly the team have been run in recent times. Their roster

construction has been woeful as management have failed to surround stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis with the necessary shooters.  In fact, even James and Davis have been underwhelming in

their own ways so far this season. Westbrook has become the scapegoat for the Lakers’ struggle, but he was sat out of Wednesday night’s defeat to the Denver Nuggets due to injury - and the

team were still poor. DON'T MISS GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS COACH ADMITS TEAM HAS 'ISSUES' MAGIC JOHNSON AIMS PLAYFUL DIG AT NBA ICONS JORDAN AND CURRY NBA LEGEND CLAIMS LEAGUE

WILL NEED TO CHANGE RULES DUE TO STEPH CURRY Shooting is a prerequisite to successful team-building in the modern NBA, especially when your offence runs through one of the greatest passers

in league history in James. However, the Lakers are shooting a league-worst 21.2% from beyond the arc this season, with Patrick Beverley, Lonnie Walker IV, Kendrick Nunn and Westbrook all

struggling.  Irving has been linked with a move to the Lakers for a number of seasons, and calls for the move have increased amid their difficulties. Irving would certainly supply the

shooting ability the Lakers crave; he consistently finds himself shooting around 50% from the floor while generally wavering around the 40% mark from three.