Getty Brooklyn guards Kyrie Irving and James Harden while playing the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena on February 09, 2021 in Detroit, Michigan.
After finishing as the number two seed in the Eastern Conference during the regular season, the Brooklyn Nets had a monumental collapse in the NBA playoffs. It only took five games for them to wrap up their first-round matchup against the Boston Celtics. And after winning the first two games of the Milwaukee series it seemed like the Nets were destined for a deep championship run, despite losing their star James Harden within the first minute of Game 1.
The luxury of having a team with three All-Stars is that if one gets hurt, you still have two more to fall back on. What is nearly impossible to prepare for is the loss of two All-Stars which is the exact dilemma that the Nets faced in the Milwaukee series. After losing Harden in Game 1, Kyrie Irving severely sprained his ankle in Game 4 against the Bucks which ended up sidelining him for the rest of the series. A recent report suggests that Game 4 could have been the last time that we see Kyrie in a Nets uniform.
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Twitter Reacts to Kyrie Irving Trade Rumor
Matt Sullivan is the author of the book “Can’t Knock the Hustle: Inside the Season of Protest, Pandemic, and Progress with the Brooklyn Nets’ Superstars of Tomorrow” which was officially released on Tuesday, June 22nd. Sullivan appeared on the Celtics Lab podcast on Tuesday to discuss the Brooklyn Nets 2020-21 season. The author details that the relationship between Kyrie and the Nets has reached a point where general manager Sean Marks is at least willing to listen to trade offers for the 7-time All-Star.
“Let me give you guys a little news, I’m not sure that’s been out there. I’ve heard that Nets’ ownership was quite upset with Kyrie’s pause, especially that mask-less party that turned his pseudo-paternity leave into more like a COVID suspension,” Sullivan said per Nets Wire. “And in the last week I’ve heard rumblings — whispers, really, because cracking the Nets is kind of like breaking into the Kremlin, that Brooklyn GM Sean Marks would maybe, possibly, apparently be willing to at least listen to a trade offer for Kyrie this offseason.”
After hearing of the ramblings of a potential Kyrie Irving trade fans on Twitter went bananas.
So the @BrooklynNets are already over @KyrieIrving… lol. Listening to trade offers. That was fast.
The Brooklyn Nets were reportedly “quite upset” about Kyrie Irving’s midseason pause this season, specifically the mask-less party he attended.
It’s thought that Brooklyn may at least listen to trade offers for Kyrie Irving this off-season.
(via @sullduggery / @CelticsLab)
Ok, Ben Simmons for Kyrie Irving who says no….
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Sean Marks Is Already Looking Forward To Next Season
While Marks has yet to weigh in on anything concerning the future of Kyrie specifically, Brooklyn’s general manager knows that the next time the Nets take the floor, the roster will look completely different than it did when they played the Bucks in Game 7. It is inevitable, especially if the Nets are hoping to compete for a championship in 2022.
“Inevitably, there’s going to be change, here. That’s the tough thing with pro sports. You love continuity throughout and so forth, but there’s going to have to be changes. They may not all be because of the decisions that we decide to make. Our players have to make these decisions too. We have multiple players that have whether it’s options on their contract, their free-agent status is up, and so forth,” Marks told reporters on Monday, June 21 per NetsDaily.
“We’ll come together as a collective group and the opportunity for them and the opportunity for us is to go up there and put the best Brooklyn Nets team forward to start training camp next season.”
After a disappointing end to the 2020-21 season, you would have to consider that the Nets will address the weaknesses in their roster during the upcoming free agency period. Despite contributions from several key role players this season, the Nets will have to cut ties with some of them in free agency in order to improve their roster.
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