Report: Lakers Wouldn't Trade Reaves, Christie Without Kyrie Irving Contract Assured

The Los Angeles Lakers' attempts to trade for Kyrie Irving stalled out in part over his unwillingness to sign a two-year, $80 million-plus extension, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, as Irving preferred to hit free agency this summer.

Per Buha, "The Lakers were not willing to include Austin Reaves and/or rookie Max Christie in the deal if Irving was not going to agree to the two-year contract extension."

The Lakers see Reaves and Christie as "key members of their young supporting cast, not merely throw-ins," according to Buha, and didn't want to trade either without knowing that Irving wouldn't be a short-term rental.

But the Brooklyn Nets also preferred the Dallas Mavericks' offer of Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 first-round pick and two second-round picks because it gave them a better supporting cast for Kevin Durant in the short term, per Buha, rather than long-term draft assets that wouldn't help the team for several years.

With the Feb. 9 trade deadline looming, the Lakers largely resemble the team that started the season, outside of the acquisition of Rui Hachimura. The Utah Jazz and Toronto Raptors have emerged as "plan B options" for the Lakers in trade talks, per Buha, with the Charlotte Hornets, San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls "teams to watch" as well.

At 25-29, the Lakers need to shake things up to reemerge as contenders, with the elephant in the room the continued struggles of Russell Westbrook to fit alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Even with Westbrook playing better off the bench and the Lakers stabilizing after a 2-10 start, adding more complementary players would make sense.

The issue is getting a team to absorb Westbrook's $47 million contract. That will require draft capital, let alone whatever the Lakers need to give up to get other players in return. It remains a complicated factor.

While it wasn't the only factor that prevented them from landing Irving—Buha reported that the Nets "didn't have interest in taking back Westbrook, so the teams tried to find a third team to help facilitate the deal" before Brooklyn moved on to the Dallas offer—it didn't help.