Top Landing Spots for Kyrie Irving If Brooklyn Nets Trade Star Guard

Every year, it feels like the NBA's unofficial #TradeSZN gives us some major, out-of-left-field surprise.

And while Kyrie Irving's personal history in the league may preclude us from describing anything related to him as a "surprise," Friday's news (as first reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, and confirmed by Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes) that he wants out of Brooklyn was at least unexpected.

"There were some talks on a new deal for Irving, but no deal was reached and a trade request was delivered to the organization today," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski later added. "Irving can leave the franchise this summer as a free agent."

Of course, a trade request is a long way from a trade completed. Every team in the league is likely wary of acquiring Brooklyn's notoriously mercurial guard. Even if he tells the acquiring team that he'll re-sign in the summer (when his current deal expires), it would be hard to have any level of confidence in that.

Still, we're talking about one of the most talented offensive players in the league. Behind averages of 27.1 points, 5.3 assists and 3.3 threes, Kyrie is in the 97th percentile for 2022-23 offensive estimated plus-minus (one of the league's most trusted all-in-one metrics). And if he's focused, there are a few teams he could help compete for a title.

The best options are below, but even those are rife with potential problems.

Los Angeles Lakers

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LeBron James

This is likely the first name that popped up in most fans' heads. There was some buzz about Kyrie heading to the Los Angeles Lakers this past offseason, and it was easy to see why.

The Russell Westbrook experiment has failed in pretty spectacular fashion, and Irving's skill set fits alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis in a way Russ' never could.

He can shoot threes and has plenty of experience playing off the ball and letting a possession-dominant forward cook.

He also has specific experience with LeBron, with whom he won a championship for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.

Irving has expressed regret over the way things broke down between those two after the title, and a trade to the Lakers now would give him an opportunity to mend that fence.

L.A. would have to feel good about competing for a title if it made a deal for Kyrie.

Is a top three of LeBron, AD and Irving good enough to win the West? Would you feel more confident in your answer to that question if they'd been able to play the entire season together?

And can the Lakers justify giving up both of their highly coveted picks in 2027 and 2029 for a player who might become dissatisfied (again) between now and the end of the campaign?

None of this even gets to how the Brooklyn Nets feel about dealing with the Lakers, either. Imagine trying to sell Kevin Durant on salary filler (also known as Westbrook) and future assets in his age-34 season.

Negotiations between these two teams, for this specific player, could be loaded with potential pitfalls.

But it's the Lakers, who've capitalized on other organizations' moments of chaos many times over the years. Their shot to land Kyrie has to be taken seriously.

Dallas Mavericks

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Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving

Forget for a moment how tricky it would be to sort out the usage and other responsibilities between Luka Dončić and Kyrie. As a pure talent play, this is at least interesting. And not just to speculators like myself.

The Dallas Mavericks have plenty of $10 million to $20 million salaries they could package to make potential deals work under the collective bargaining agreement.

If they emerged with Dončić, Kyrie, a rim-running center and a couple wings who just want to play defense, the Mavs could be pretty dangerous.

As previously alluded to, Irving has a lot of experience playing with bigger playmakers. And for all the talk of Luka monopolizing Dallas' offense, he deserves credit for giving Jalen Brunson the space he needed to thrive last season.

Think of this potential pairing as the Dončić-Brunson partnership on steroids (complete with the off-court volatility that cliche may conjure up).

Miami Heat

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Kyrie Irving and Jimmy Butler

Think back, if you can, to Jimmy Butler's short-lived and overly dramatic stint with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Following his infamous (or, as Wojnarowski described it, "tour de force") performance in a practice and subsequent interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols in 2018, Butler was widely regarded as a potential chemistry issue.

But, notwithstanding last season's blowup on coach Erik Spoelstra, Butler has seemingly fallen in line with #HeatCulture and been a model citizen during his time there.

Would the team's success with one big personality give it the confidence it needs to take a heat-check shot on Kyrie? It has an obvious trade piece to send Brooklyn in Kyle Lowry (as part of a bigger package, of course), and ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported that Miami could already be in pursuit.

In pure basketball terms, it's easy to see why the Heat would be interested. Irving would check a lot of the same boxes Kyle Lowry was supposed to, only he'd do so more fully.

And with his shotmaking and playmaking ability, he'd command a ton of attention from opposing defenses, freeing up Butler and Tyler Herro a bit on offense.

Perhaps the biggest selling point here is the defensive talent that's already in place in Miami (currently ranked fourth in defensive efficiency). Butler, Bam Adebayo and Caleb Martin are almost certainly more capable of covering for Kyrie's defensive shortcomings than Brooklyn's roster is.

Los Angeles Clippers

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Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving

Like the Mavericks, the Los Angeles Clippers have a bunch of players making between $10 million and $20 million this season. On that front, it's pretty easy to concoct a deal.

The possible red flags on this one are massive, though.

Depth is a big reason the Clippers have been able to survive the extreme load management of Kawhi Leonard (and, to a lesser degree, Paul George).

Sacrificing that to add another player known for struggling to be available could be a recipe for disaster.

If (and, of course, that's a big if) all three of Irving, Leonard and George were available at the highest-leverage moments, though, L.A. would be a nightmare in the postseason.

Phoenix Suns

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Kyrie Irving and Chris Paul

Shortly after the initial Kyrie news broke, a potential suitor emerged that may come as a bit of a surprise to some.

But given Chris Paul's age (37), the Phoenix Suns' struggles without Devin Booker this season and the general air of discontent surrounding Deandre Ayton since contract negotiations went less than swimmingly this summer, maybe the pursuit of Kyrie makes some sense.

Irving has undoubtedly outperformed CP3 this season, and he and Booker would make for one of the most explosive scoring duos in the league.

If Ayton is somehow involved, it would be difficult for the Suns to cobble together a quality defense, but the Booker-Irving duo and the shooting of Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson would provide more than enough offense.