Getty Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets cheers from the bench during a preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on October 3, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.
The Los Angeles Clippers have lost their first two games of the 2021-22 NBA season, and some are already reaching for the panic button.
While the team’s best player, Kawhi Leonard, appears to be ahead of schedule with his knee rehab, the superstar is a long way from returning, and there are still 80 games remaining on the schedule.
Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report thinks he has the perfect way for the Clips to add a dynamic, franchise-altering player who could help Los Angeles immediately — one who is currently stuck in limbo with his Eastern Conference team.
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Trade Proposal Sends Kyrie Irving to Clippers
Over in the Eastern Conference, seven-time All-Star Kyrie Irving — who won an NBA championship with current Clippers coach Ty Lue back in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers — has been benched by the Brooklyn Nets over his refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Irving has not been able to play or practice with the Nets this season due to ordinances in the state of New York currently restricting people who are unvaccinated from gathering indoors.
According to Swartz, a Staples Center rule would allow Kyrie the opportunity to play at both home and away games as an unvaccinated player.
Here’s the trade proposed by Swartz:
- Brooklyn Nets Receive: G Eric Bledsoe, G/F Luke Kennard, SG Keon Johnson, 2028 first-round pick, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 second-round picks
- Los Angeles Clippers Receive: PG Kyrie Irving, PG Jevon Carter
Here’s why he thinks it would benefit both teams:
Any trade involving Irving will be extremely tricky as well, as the partnering team will need confirmation that he’ll actually show up and agree to play. One possible destination? The Clippers, a franchise that would reunite Irving with the head coach (Tyronn Lue) he won a championship with. … While Los Angeles joined New York and San Francisco as cities with strict vaccine mandates, the new rule does not affect Staples Center, meaning Irving could participate in all home and away games whether he chooses to get vaccinated or not. Getting Bledsoe gives the Nets a starting-caliber point guard to plug in for Irving, and Kennard is the perfect sniper to spell starter Joe Harris in the second unit. Picking up five draft picks in the process sets Brooklyn up to make future upgrades to the roster, and the Nets suddenly have a nice collection of young talent by adding Johnson to fellow rookies Cam Thomas and Day’Ron Sharpe.
Clippers Are 100% Vaccinated
“I’m staying grounded in what I believe in,” Irving said about not getting vaccinated on an Instagram live earlier this month, via The New York Post. “It’s not about being anti-vax or about being on one side or the other. It’s about being true to what feels good for me. I’m still uncertain about a lot of things. And that’s OK. If I’m going to be demonized about having more questions and taking my time to make a decision with my life, then that’s just what it is.”
While Irving is an excellent player and is coming off one of the best seasons of his career, averaging 26.9 points, 6.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds in 34.9 minutes a game last year, would Lue really risk his 100% fully vaccinated locker room to be reunited with Irving? That is highly unlikely, although the Clippers coach doesn’t seem like he would hold Kyrie’s vaccination status against him:
“Our guys are vaccinated, so, we just have to do whatever the league tells us to do, we try to abide by the rules and kind of go from there,” Lue said in late September, per The Los Angeles Times. “And we talked about it last year, just being able to adapt and do what we need to do to play the game that we love. And so, certain players, certain people have different beliefs, so I respect those beliefs. And our guys are fully vaccinated, so I respect their beliefs as well.”
Kyrie pairing with Paul George — and eventually a healthy Kawhi — sounds great on the surface, but Swartz’s trade has L.A. reaching all the way into 2028 to give up their first-round pick. As it stands, the Clippers don’t have a first-round pick until 2027, and they have second-round picks in 2022-2026.
This proposal has them sending all but two of their future second-round picks to the Nets. If they did this, Los Angeles would be left with second-round selections in 2025, 2026, and 2028, and just one first-round pick in 2027. That’s it. Nothing for the next three drafts. There are few players in the league worth mortgaging the future for. Considering the current questions surrounding him, Irving isn’t one of them.
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