It's not at all surprising that more than a few Los Angeles Lakers fans believed that Kyrie Irving was on his way to Hollywood prior to the trade deadline. Some also thought that Russell Westbrook would be the sacrificial lamb in a potential blockbuster deal, which would have reunited Russ with former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Kevin Durant. As we all know, nothing came to fruition for LA, with the Brooklyn Nets opting to strike a deal with the Dallas Mavericks instead.
As it turns out, the Lakers were indeed in the mix for Kyrie. However, the harsh reality for Westbrook is that he would still have landed elsewhere if the Lakers and the Nets were able to agree on a deal. This report comes via NBA insider Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports:
“Brooklyn has been steadfast in a commitment to only completing trades that improve the Nets’ chances at winning a championship with Durant front and center. Brooklyn would have looked to reroute Russell Westbrook and the Lakers’ two first-round picks it could have potentially received for Irving to acquire better win-now pieces around Durant, sources told Yahoo Sports,” wrote Fischer.
That would have been harsh for Russell Westbrook. Not only was a reunion with KD never really on the horizon for him, but Russ would have also been traded twice in the span of a couple of days had this deal gone through. To make matters worse, it's also possible that he would have eventually ended up getting bought out by his new team.
I guess the silver lining for Westbrook here is that he's staying in LA — for the time being, at least. However, he has to be somewhat bothered by the fact that he's become totally dispensable at this point in his career, in spite of the significant improvements he's gone through with his new role with the Lakers.
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