Lakers Rumors: Russell Westbrook Trade Didn't Interest Nets During Kyrie Irving Talks

The Brooklyn Nets were averse to acquiring Russell Westbrook in any potential deal with the Los Angeles Lakers for Kyrie Irving, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst.

Brooklyn didn't want to add Westbrook's $47 million contract to its already high luxury tax bill and was also wary because the veteran point guard had already gone through a "messy" breakup with Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City, Shelburne and Windhorst added.

"While the Lakers' draft compensation was formidable, the Nets preferred the players they were getting from Dallas because of their value around the league, particularly [Dorian] Finney-Smith, and the simplicity of the deal," they wrote. "Any Lakers deal would've needed a third team to take on Westbrook. In the end, it wasn't that hard of a choice to decide the preferred offer to move on Irving."

While the Nets had fears about pairing Westbrook with Durant, the franchise ended up trading the latter to the Phoenix Suns anyway, landing Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four unprotected future first-round picks in the deal.

The Nets ended up acquiring Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, an unprotected 2029 first-round pick and second-round picks in 2027 and 2029 from the Mavericks in exchange for Irving and Markieff Morris.

The Lakers offered the Nets Westbrook and two first-round picks in exchange for Irving, which didn't come close to meeting Brooklyn's asking price. According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, the Nets wanted the Lakers to include a young player like Austin Reaves in the deal, in addition to draft assets.

Aside from Brooklyn's issues with Westbrook's salary, it should also be noted that the veteran point guard isn't close to the player he once was, having struggled in a season and a half with the Purple and Gold.

While Lakers head coach Darvin Ham insisted Westbrook hadn't been demoted, the two-time scoring champion ended up playing off the bench in a sixth-man role because he didn't fit in the starting lineup.

In 52 games with the Lakers this season, including just three starts, he averaged 15.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists while shooting 41.7 percent from the floor and 29.6 percent from deep.

Now with the Jazz, Westbrook is a candidate to have his contract bought out, per Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes. While the Nets and Jazz don't have much interest in the veteran, he should be of interest to teams looking for guard depth off the bench entering the postseason.