Kyrie Irving And Russell Westbrook Are Both Mysteriously Sitting Out On Saturday Amid Lakers-Nets Trade Rumors

Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook are late scratches for their games on Saturday, and fans are putting two and two together.

On Friday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania dropped a bomb when he reported that Irving had requested a trade out of Brooklyn a week before the trade deadline after contract extension negotiations broke down.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Irving was seeking a max long-term contract extension, but the Nets were unwilling to give it to him.

Via ESPN

The Nets and Irving’s agent, Shetellia Riley-Irving, had discussed an extension recently, but Brooklyn remained reluctant to rush into a long-term commitment without further evidence that Irving could stay reliable, perform at a high level and remain controversy-free, sources said.

One of the teams interested in trading for Irving is the LA Lakers.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35583014/source-kyrie-irving-asks-nets-trade-ahead-deadline#:~:text=Irving%2C%20who%20will%20become%20a%20free%20agent%20this%20summer%2C%20wants%20out%20ahead%20of%20Thursday%27s%20NBA%20trade%20deadline.%20The%20Los%20Angeles%20Lakers%20and%20Phoenix%20Suns%20are%20already%20expressing%20interest%20in%20discussing%20an%20Irving%20trade%20and%20the%20Dallas%20Mavericks%20are%20expected%20to%20do%20so%20soon%2C%20sources%20told%20ESPN.

On Saturday both Russell Westbrook and Irving were sitting out their games with mysterious illnesses.

Of course fans began to believe that the two players sitting out meant the Lakers and the Nets were working out a trade.