Getty Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets and Kevin Durant #7 look on during the first quarter of Round 1 Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs
The NBA offseason has kind of been hijacked by the uncertainty surrounding the Brooklyn Nets and Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. The contract negotiations between Irving and the Nets were the first shoe to drop this season. Brooklyn was reported to be ‘unwilling‘ to sign Irving to a long-term extension after the star point guard missed games with his stance regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. After flirting with the idea of joining the Los Angeles Lakers on a $6 million mid-level exception, the Nets point guard elected to return to Brooklyn for the last year remaining on his contract. Shortly after Irving opted into remaining in Brooklyn, Kevin Durant requested to be dealt in a call to Nets owner Joe Tsai.
The Nets were contacted by multiple teams pursuing a deal for Durant, but over a month later, Brooklyn has not had any real traction in trade discussions. Reports came out this week that the Nets were expecting to meet with Durant in a sit-down between the 12-time All-Star and team owner Joe Tsai.
“What I’m hearing is that KD is going to meet with the owner this week,” the source told Heavy Sports. “He’s going to go directly to the owner, Joe Tsai, sometime this week. We’ll see how that works.”
While the results of the upcoming meeting remain up for debate, there is growing optimism that Durant will return to Brooklyn next season. Durant isn’t the only one that there has been good news for regarding a return to Brooklyn. There seems to be growing optimism that Kyrie Irving is ‘feeling comfortable with the Nets organization.
Possible Nets Return for Kyrie Irving
Ian Begley from SNY recently commented on the growing potential that Irving may return to Brooklyn.
“A source close to Irving said this week that the seven-time All-Star is in a good place with the Nets and comfortable entering the 2022-23 season,” Begley wrote.
Put on a show for the squad to enjoy 🤝
Soon after Begley reported the news, Irving was featured throughout the day on the Nets official social media accounts as the star hosted his “More Than A Run” All-Star Game. The posts and support from the Nets accounts helped validate the earlier Begley reports. Support for Irving didn’t stop there and went beyond social media posts. Kessler Edwards, Royce O’Neale, David Duke Jr., Alondes Williams, and RaiQuan Gray were all in attendance at Kean University in New Jersey for the All-Star game.
Begley on Possibility of a Durant and Irving Return
Kyrie Irving wasn’t the only Nets player that was included as a candidate to return to the Nets. He also added reporting on the Kevin Durant situation with the Brooklyn Nets.
“There is “a lot of pessimism” on a Kevin Durant deal getting done in the near future,” SNY tweeted with a video of Begley.
Begley sorted the difficulty in the trade negotiations being around teams not wanting to help the Nets out in the trade. He did offer if the club was able to bring in Durant and Irving, they would have a strong roster next season.
“If the Nets bring back Irving and Durant, they’ll have one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference on paper. Irving, Durant, Ben Simmons, Patty Mills, Joe Harris, Seth Curry and Nic Claxton and the Nets’ other returning players/additions make a strong roster,” Begley wrote.