Despite being one of the few teams linked to Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving, there is growing pessimism the Los Angeles Lakers will trade for the superstar, according to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. Per Woike, the reason for the pessimism is Irving’s demands for his contract extension or next contract.
According to Woike, similar to most reports, Irving wants a max contract extension that has few, if any, stipulations. Irving believes he has earned a contract extension on those terms because he can still perform at a superstar level, but other teams, including the Lakers, do not feel the same way.
Irving has not done himself any favors by playing in only 157 of 298 possible games for Brooklyn. Many of those missed games have been for issues other than injury. Woike expanded on why the Lakers are pessimistic about trading for Irving:
“Changes could be coming — the trade deadline is Thursday. But after a day of rampant speculation, there’s pessimism that the Lakers will swing a deal for Kyrie Irving, because of the star Brooklyn point guard’s contract demands in free agency this summer, sources with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly told The Times. Irving is expected to seek a four-year maximum contract, with the Lakers preferring a two-year deal, aligning with the two years remaining on James’ deal.”
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