Getty Kyrie Irving defending LeBron James.
The Brooklyn Nets are trying to resolve the Kyrie Irving situation as best as they can, but it appears the situation is even trickier than they thought. The Nets are trying to work out possible sign-and-trade scenarios involving the former Boston Celtics star, but, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, only one team is interested in acquiring Irving that way – the Los Angeles Lakers. Reportedly, the Nets are not interested in what the Lakers have to offer.
ESPN Sources: Outside of the Lakers, there are currently no known teams planning pursuit of sign-and-trades for Nets G Kyrie Irving. No sign-and-trades can be formally discussed until after 6 PM on Thursday. Brooklyn isn’t believed to have interest in available Lakers packages.
Because of the Anthony Davis trade from 2019, the Lakers have very limited assets to offer Brooklyn for Irving. The alternative option, in this case, would be for Irving to opt out of his deal and sign with the Lakers with the taxpayer mid-level exception, which Wojnarowski later alludes to.
If Irving declines his $36M player option, he would be eligible to sign with the Lakers for the $6M exception. Deadline is Wednesday to decide on option.
Doing so would mean Kyrie would take a pay cut of $30 million more or less to join the Lakers via free agency. Of course, all of this could be for naught if Kyrie and the Nets come to an agreement on an extension.
Kyrie Willing to Sign With the Lakers
Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report reported that there is an increasing belief that Kyrie is indeed willing to take the pay cut to join the Lakers in free agency.
Sources with knowledge of the situation have increasingly believed Kyrie Irving’s willingness to opt out of Brooklyn, sign the $6M taxpayer midlevel with the Lakers, where Irving can re-sign long-term in 2023.
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Doing so would reunite Irving with LeBron James, who won the NBA Title together in 2016 and made three consecutive NBA Finals appearances together from 2015 to 2017. Since Irving’s trade away from the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017, LeBron has made two NBA Finals appearances and won a championship with the Lakers in 2020. In that same timespan, Irving has failed to make it past the second round of the playoffs while being eligible to play.
Irving was technically on the Celtics roster that made the Eastern Conference Finals in 2018, but he did not play one game in that postseason because of season-ending knee surgery.
Fischer later added that, in spite of the growing belief that he’d be willing the join the Lakers via free agency, there is strong skepticism that Irving would pass up that much money to go join the Lakers.
Kyrie Said He Looked Forward to ‘Managing’ the Nets
After the Celtics eliminated the Nets in the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs on April 26, Irving said he had no intention of leaving the Nets. It also sounded like he believed he was going to take part in the team’s front office decisions.
When asked about his next contract with the team, he said point-blank that he was planning to stay with the Nets.
“In terms of my extension, man, I don’t really plan on going anywhere,” Irving said. He then added that he and Kevin Durant would collaborate with Nets’ owner Joe Tsai and General Manager Sean Marks in making front-office decisions.
“When I say I’m here with Kev, I think that it really entails us managing this franchise together alongside Joe and Sean and just our group of family members that we have in our organization,” Irving said.
Evidently, the two sides have since then not seen eye-to-eye on their long-term future together now that Kyrie may potentially go to the Lakers either via sign and trade or via free agency.
Irving is an exceptional talent, but it’s clear from their actions this summer that the Nets don’t believe he’s worth keeping around long-term.