Anthony Davis reportedly not available for trade in wake of Kyrie Irving drama

Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving is doing a fantastic job at making the NBA a must-follow soap opera – whether the league likes it or not. That drama has now extended to the complete other side of the country and has caused a stir with the most popular franchise in all basketball.

Before we go any further, let’s briefly outline the situation. Irving refused to play for the Nets throughout the 2021-22 season while a vaccine mandate was in place. Much was made about the decision by Irving to not get vaccinated for COVID-19 and leaving his team, mainly future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant, high and dry during a championship-or-bust season.

Irving ultimately played just 29 games for the Nets once the mandate was lifted, but was never able to establish any chemistry, which resulted in a first-round sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics. He was an All-Star caliber player when he was on the floor, but a non-factor for two-thirds of the schedule.

Now, Brooklyn is in an interesting situation ahead of the 2022-23 season. Irving has a player option for $36.5 million that he can either pick up and stay in Brooklyn for one more season or decline and become an unrestricted free agent. The debate doesn’t have to deal with Irving’s undeniable talent, but rather his ability to actually take the court. He played 20 games in ’19-20, 54 games in ’20-21, then just 29 in ’21-22.

At this point, no one is entirely sure if Irving will ever play a full season of NBA basketball ever again. That’s a big risk for a player who will ask for $35 million-plus per season over a multi-year deal.

So where does the connection to Kentucky come into play here? Well, one of the scenarios being posited by insiders and analysts is a potential sign-and-trade deal with Irving where the Nets would ship him off while not losing him for nothing in free agency. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported earlier this week that the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers, and LA Clippers are among Irving’s preferred trade destinations if it comes to that.

Considering the Lakers are locked into big-money deals with Russell Westbrook ($47 million), LeBron James ($44 million), and former Kentucky Wildcat Anthony Davis ($38 million) for the 2022-23 season, signing Irving outright would be impossible barring a significant pay cut. A sign-and-trade is the only realistic avenue.

But the Lakers aren’t trading LeBron James unless he explicitly asks for one, and the Nets likely won’t be interested in bringing Westbrook to Brooklyn for a reunion with Kevin Durant. That would leave Davis as the Lakers’ best trade chip in a potential Irving sign-and-trade. All that being said, Davis is not on the table in that situation, at least not right now.

“I’ve been told in no uncertain terms Anthony Davis is not getting traded. So let’s get that out of the way, let alone being traded for Kyrie Irving,” ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on a June 24 episode of The Lowe Post podcast.

The allure of teaming Irving up with LeBron once again is surely attractive to the Lakers (they were members of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2016 NBA championship team), but the risks far outweigh the rewards. Granted, Davis has been as unreliable as Irving when it comes to playing time the last three years, although Davis’ issues have revolved around several nagging injuries.

But replacing him with Irving, who has refused to play even when fully healthy, could put the Lakers in the exact same situation. He’s become an unpredictable enigma who makes roster-building far more complicated. At least with a healthy Davis, Los Angeles knows exactly what it will have on the floor — remember, this franchise is just two years removed from an NBA title where LeBron and Davis were the stars.

It’s going to be an absolute mess of an offseason in the NBA once free agency begins on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. EST