Getty Kyrie Irving
The Chicago Bulls need a point guard, and the Brooklyn Nets may not have a need for Kyrie Irving and his antics anymore. Is there a match?
If you ask long-time Bulls analyst and NBC Sports senior writer Sam Smith, he doesn’t see one.
Still, he was asked about the potential considering the Nets are reportedly listening to offers for the mercurial All-Star guard, per Matt Sullivan, the author Can’t Knock the Hustle: Inside the Season of Protest, Pandemic, and Progress with the Brooklyn Nets’ Superstars of Tomorrow, who appeared as a guest on the Celtics Lab podcast.
When a team like the Bulls, who are in win-now mode have a need at a position, and a player of Irving’s caliber is potentially available, you can bet the subject will at least be brought up in various conversations.
Sam Smith Says No
Here is what Smith wrote in response to the fan who sent him the idea in a mailbag question. He’s not as much into Irving as he is another Nets guard.
The Bulls and Kyrie? Nah, don’t see that one, though he’s really good. Too unreliable. Well, at least with the injuries. It gets overlooked a lot with him because of the lack of a Big One (Achilles, ACL), but he barely played in college and only once in his career as one of the league’s best scorers has played more than 72 games. It’s true that Irving has become somewhat redundant with Harden, but I assume they have to give it one more run to determine if they can withstand a season. After all, most of us were picking them to win. And if Durant had a slightly smaller shoe size….I get a lot of Dinwiddie suggestions from fans. Yes, the Bulls did give him up when they shouldn’t have, but also brought him in when no one wanted to. He is coming off now his second ACL and presumably wants a lot of money after opting out of his $12 million Nets option. He’s talked about wanting to return to LA (so does everyone), but he figures to follow the money. He’s not the classic facilitating guard, but before his last ACL a productive one. I assume the Bulls at least kick the tires. To see how those wheels are working.
Based on the potential chemistry issues and the overall reputation for a lack of dependability that Irving has earned, it is hard to imagine the Bulls wanting Irving even if it was through free agency.
To consider parting ways with Patrick Williams, Thaddeus Young, Lauri Markkanen in a sign-and-trade and one or two first-round picks would be asinine.
The Dinwiddie idea is strong, though.
The Other Available Nets PG is the Right Look
Spencer Dinwiddie was formerly with the Bulls organization as Smith mentioned. He is coming off a torn ACL, his second, but that isn’t the red flag that it was 25 years ago.
Concerning? Yes, but not a death sentence.
Unlike Irving, Dinwiddie is unquestionably a strong teammate, and a guy who will help to establish the kind of culture Chicago wants in its locker room, and on the court.