In this week’s Friday edition of the crossing Podcast, Chris Mannix speaks with Lakers reporter Kyle Goon about Russell Westbrook’s future with the team, the possibility of landing Kyrie Irving and what small steps the team should be taking to move forward. He also shares views with SI drafting expert Jeremy Woo on what the top lottery picks look like after the Summer League and his early thoughts on next year’s likely #1 pick, Victor Wembanyama.
The following transcript is an excerpt from The Crossover NBA Podcast. Listen to the whole episode Podcast Players Anywhere or on SI.com.
Mannix: You don’t have to be deeply rooted in the NBA to know that the Lakers would love to add Kyrie Irving to the roster. How that happens is complicated because we don’t know exactly how the Nets intend to play this. We don’t know if the Nets want to come to a solution Kevin Durant before they do anything. And we don’t know exactly what pound of flesh the Nets want to extract from the Lakers to conduct a Westbrook-centric, Kyrie-centric swap. Maybe it includes a third team, who knows? But those would be the principles of such a deal.
What do you think the Lakers will do in the next few months?
Go on: I mean, obviously I think they want to make it. The complex thing about the Lakers situation is that I wonder if the ownership structure and the front office and LeBron’s camp…I wonder if they agree on that.
I think it’s pretty obvious that LeBron and his camp think swapping Russ out for Kyrie Irving kinda gets you closer to what a championship team should be like, gives you more time windows than Russ currently does. I also think it’s incredibly important to look at: Privately, the Lakers have been very protective of their first-round picks basically since the close, and then even publicly, Jeanie Buss told NBA.com last week: Oh, well, we don’t want to make a deal that further hinders our future. And I think she’s starting to get a feel for that, and maybe the front office more broadly, well, what’s next after LeBron?
LeBron turns 38 in December. If we burn it all now and don’t make it, realistically what happens by 2027 or 2029, what are the two first-round picks they can still dish out? So I think there’s a bit of, let’s say, a misalignment where LeBron is interested in the short term – it’s like We think we can win now with me, AD and Kyrie— and the Lakers are looking at the franchise’s long-term interest. And I think that’s one thing that complicates the deal.
I also kind of got away from the Summer League, heard a little bit more about the Nets side and was less convinced that the Lakers had what they needed to close the deal. And if you look at different permutations and what I’ve heard on the Laker site is this: OK, well, what if we traded Russ and Talen Horton-Tucker for Kyrie and Joe Harris? And Joe Harris is just finishing a year of basically not playing at all. I still think the Lakers will get the top two players on the deal back if they go after it.
Mannix: Kyle, you know like Southern California, Talen Horton-Tucker is Michael Jordan. Like he’s the greatest player, greatest prospect of all time. Out there, among the NBA executives I’ve spoken to, he’s a nice prospect who took a small step down last year from the guy we saw a year ago. We’ve been joking all year on this pod and elsewhere about the Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn plate that the Lakers out there were offering like it’s going to get you Zach LaVine or whatever.
Go on: The other part the Lakers understand internally is that back in the year last year, the coaches knew Talen and Russ couldn’t play together. So you pack these two guys. And not that Russ will play wherever you treat him, but two guys who are ball handlers who don’t shoot very well – that’s the way it is, and that’s our package. And plus first-round picks who enroll for a long time. So for the Nets, where they are with their luxury tax situation, I’m kind of skeptical that this is a package that’s attractive enough that they really need to look at it.
But you know, on the Lakers side, they thought, well, Joe Harris didn’t play. So what is its value? Are we really going to send Talen Horton-Tucker to the Nets with Kyrie for a guy like Joe Harris? But I think if you look at last year’s results, of course the answer would be yes. I dont know. I think there probably needs to be more discussion on this point, and maybe there are more recent discussions that I haven’t heard of, but I always found that a bit of an odd perspective.
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Mannix: Just my opinion. I would go and get Joe Harris. For one, he was injured last year. He’ll probably be through with that, with ankle surgery, all of that. He’s played 69 games in each of the last two years. He’s statistically the best shooter in the NBA, and what shooter has ever failed to develop against LeBron James. For example, Kyle Korver probably played three more years than he should have, in large part because of LeBron James. These guys who can shoot are a perfect fit. And you put Joe Harris alongside LeBron and Anthony Davis, and you’re dangerous offensively, man. You are dangerous.
Go on: The other thing not discussed in this context is that the Lakers are currently not shooting. I mean, their star free agents are all boys who are younger. They may have had a good shooting year in the past, but Lonnie Walker is their mid-level exceptional guy and he shot about 31% last year.
So the Lakers have to shoot like everything else. And last year that was one of the main reasons why they didn’t get where they wanted to go. And they’re reorganizing their roster and he’s younger and faster and maybe defending better, but he still doesn’t have shooters because shooting is such a prime talent that it’s very expensive to get.
So the Lakers didn’t have a lot of salary options for people who can actually shoot. So they still have to act to really find that. Even if that Kyrie deal doesn’t work, they need to make a deal to find at least one man who’s proven their worth. I think that’s a minimum. I think you can’t go into next season without a shooter who has proven himself and they really don’t have that at the moment.
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Mannix: The last for you LeBron will be a free agent by the end of next season. On August 4th he can sign a contract extension. How much do you think will tower over the rest of the Lakers offseason?
Go on: Oh huge. Gigantic. You know, it’s really hard to say why that is. I mean, at one point it seemed pretty clear that LeBron would definitely re-sign here, retire here and retire a Laker. There are some big things coming up. He becomes the all-time leading scorer in regular-season history. And having him in a Laker uniform will be significant as he gets past Kareem, another Laker. I think there are good things the Lakers want to get out of this.
But LeBron somehow left the mark that he might be able to leave. I mean he talked about it and he tried to pull it back but all star break this year he says Oh yeah, I’m going to the team that Bronny has. And then he tried to undo it by saying that could be the Lakers, but he didn’t say that at first.
So I think you’re seeing signs that the alignment isn’t where it should be. And I know for sure that the LeBron camp was very disappointed that the Lakers didn’t make a move at last year’s trade deadline. And that was a big point of contention. Right after that is the All-Star break where LeBron compliments every GM who isn’t named Rob Pelinka and does all that stuff. And so I think it’s entirely possible that he’s still holding her.
I think maybe the best thing for everyone involved is figuring out that he has at least two more years to be a Laker until he’s 40. And then maybe allow him to figure out what he’s going to do with Bronny whenever Bronny comes up in the league. But it’s definitely less certain than it was seven months ago. And I don’t think that’s resolved because this Russell-Westbrook situation is still unresolved. And I think one has a lot to do with the other. I’m not saying that’s definitely going to be the reason LeBron renews or doesn’t renew, but I think if they make a deal with Russ and if they find out Kyrie, it will go a long way in making sure that LeBron does has a long-term future with the Lakers.
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