Getty Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets
The saga of the Brooklyn Nets and their rocky offseason continues. Reports keep coming out only for another report to contradict it the next day. One minute you’ll read of elaborate four-team trade proposals tossed out, and the next, the Nets are preparing as if both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving will be back in Brooklyn next season.
One of the stories that continue to circulate around the Nets is about Kyrie Irving. The reporting by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst that the Nets are prepared to keep both their stars is certainly a surprise. Shortly after Durant announced his trade, Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports wrote about Kyrie’s time in Brooklyn being numbered as well.
“Best believe the Nets have seen the last of Irving in their uniform — don’t be surprised if the Nets use the waive-and-stretch provision to rid themselves of Irving’s presence even if his scent will linger over the next three years,” Goodwill wrote.
Goodwill on Possibility of Kyrie Being Waived
On the July 13 episode of Basketball Illuminati with NBA insiders Tom Haberstroh and Amin Elhassan, Goodwill joined the show and elaborated on his comments of the Nets being willing to waive Irving to get rid of him.
“Think about it like this. Joe Tsai is a dude that has run through three CEO’s on the business side. Do you think a man of such wealth is willing to take orders from Kyrie Irving?” Goodwill asked. “Like at a point if they don’t find a trade partner… let’s just say the Lakers let’s say that trade doesn’t happen. There’s no way that they allow Kyrie to step foot inside Barclays or the training facility. There’s no way in hell he comes back. So if you don’t make a trade with the Lakers and nobody else out there is willing to deal for him. Why take that $39 million? …That is the equivalent of a bad contract that Sean Marks used to take on players with draft picks attached that helped refuel their rebuild.”
According to Goodwill, if Brooklyn isn’t able to trade the All-Star point guard that Joe Tsai is so fed up with him, that the team may treat the deal like a bad contract and exercise the waive-and-stretch provision to free themselves from the headache that is attached to wherever Kyrie goes.
What would the market be if Kyrie was waived?
On the Basketball Illuminati podcast, Goodwill continued his discussion after being asked if teams would line up to sign Irving on the open market if Brooklyn used their waive-and-stretch provision.
“Here’s what I think. I think there are organizations that are mixed internally. It’s not a cut and dry ‘oh, we hate this guy, we don’t want him.’ I think an owner may say no, a GM may say yes, and a coach may say no. The further the distance is from Kyrie Irving, the more apt you are to say yes. Why? Because you don’t have to deal with him being the coach,” Goodwill continued.
If Irving is waived in Brooklyn, what that market would be remains to be seen. With only one team being interested in acquiring Irving at the moment, it shows a lot about the opinion of Irving he brings and that the headaches aren’t worth the unique talent.