There's never a dull day in the NBA.
With less than a week remaining before this season's trade deadline, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported that Kyrie Irving has requested a trade from the Nets. Charania adds that the Nets have been informed Irving prefers to be moved ahead of the trade deadline.
If the Nets don't trade Irving, he's apparently made it known that he'll leave in the offseason as a free agent.
Irving is in the midst of another strong season. Through 40 games, he's averaging 27.1 points, 5.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds on .486/.374/.883 shooting splits. He was named an All-Star for the eighth time in his career last week.
Which teams could make a move for Irving? Let's take a closer look.
MORE: Why did Kyrie Irving request trade from Nets?
Best landing spots for Kyrie Irving after trade request from Nets
Los Angeles Lakers
The obvious one.
Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes reported in the 2022 offseason that the Lakers and Nets were at one point "actively engaged in discussions" on a trade package involving Westbrook and Irving. A trade obviously never materialized, but there have been rumblings that Irving plans to join the Lakers as a free agent.
Irving would be a pretty seamless fit in Los Angeles and he has history with LeBron James. This just hinges on whether or not the Westbrook and two future first-round picks package would be enough for the Nets because there's not much more the Lakers can offer.
Dallas Mavericks
It's no secret that Luka Doncic could do with some help in Dallas.
Doncic and Irving would form a similar one-two punch as Irving did with LeBron James when they were teammates in Cleveland. Irving is a good enough shooter to play off of someone like Doncic, and his ability to create his shot against practically anyone would help take some of the playmaking burden off of Doncic's shoulders.
On paper, it's hard not to like Irving and Doncic as a duo, but the Mavericks could face a similar problem as the Lakers do — they might not have the assets to acquire a player of Irving's caliber.
The Mavericks are expected to engage in Irving trade talks, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
New York Knicks
The Knicks didn't want to go all-in on Donovan Mitchell in the offseason. Would they for Irving?
Similar to Mitchell, Irving has some ties to New York, having grown up in West Orange, New Jersey. Both he and Jalen Brunson are more point guards than shooting guards, but they're both good shooters who have plenty of experience playing off of ball-dominant players. The defense might be an issue, but there's reason to believe they'd figure it out offensively.
If, of course, the plan would be to pair Irving with Brunson and Julius Randle. Assuming it would be, the Knicks have some interesting young players they could offer the Nets, such as Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin and Quentin Grimes.
The Knicks also have a ton of draft picks they could use to sweeten any deal.
Phoenix Suns
NBA insider Marc Stein broke the news recently that the Suns have begun to assess their post-Chris Paul future, adding that they had identified Fred VanVleet, Terry Rozier and Immanuel Quickley as potential targets.
There's no question that Irving would be the best player of that group.
The Suns are better equipped to cover for Irving's defensive shortcomings than most teams and he'd give them a much-needed scoring punch in the backcourt. It's hard not to like a five-man lineup that features Irving, Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges and Deandre Ayton.
The Suns control all of their future first-round picks, so they have the means to make a splashy move at the deadline.
Miami Heat
The Heat were reportedly one of the teams Irving listed as his preferred destinations in 2017. Jimmy Butler has said in the past that he wants to play with Irving and that he's his favorite player. The Heat have never been shy about pursuing stars.
It's not hard to connect the dots here.
The problem the Heat face is their best trade chip outside of Butler and Bam Adebayo, who are probably off the table, is Tyler Herro, and he has a poison pill contract where his outgoing value would be $5.7 million while his incoming value is $25.1 million. That makes matching salaries a headache.
Kyrie Irving contract details
Irving is in the final season of a four-year, $136.5 million contract with the Nets. He'll be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.
Irving is on the books for $36.9 million this season.
| Season | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
| Kyrie Irving's salary | $36,934,550 | UFA |
