Getty Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets reacts after he was given a double technical foul and ejected from the game in the third quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers at Barclays Center on April 10, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
There is seemingly no end in sight for the ongoing Ben Simmons saga for the Philadelphia 76ers. No shortage of trade rumors and hypothetical packages have been floated around in speculation. Perhaps one of the more intriguing ones involves Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving.
Irving has not appeared in any games for the Nets this season. He took part in 54 of Brooklyn’s 72 regular-season outings in 2020-21 — providing the team with averages of 26.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 6.0 assists. His shooting splits placed him in the illustrious 50-40-90 club.
Much like Simmons, there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight for Irving’s situation keeping him from being a full participant with the Nets. Until New York City changes its COVID-19 mandates, Irving is going to be out indefinitely. Is logical outcome for both Irving and Simmons to be traded for one another?
According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, an NBA executive explained how it’s difficult to come up with a logical trade idea involving Irving. However, the only deal he could’ve seen happen is one that involves Simmons. Scotto quoted the exec:
I would’ve said Philly legitimately made sense with the swap of Ben Simmons and Kyrie. That’s a team I could’ve seen who’s going for it and needs a scoring guard. That’s literally the only one I could see.
The Nets and Sixers each have a priority to contend for a championship right away. Having a player on a max contract not participating in games is just not a tenable approach for too long. At some point, something has to give.
How Kyrie Irving Would Help
When evaluating the fit of Irving and the Sixers, there’s a lot to like from a basketball standpoint. That’s to be expected, however.
Most NBA offenses are highly predicated on high pick-and-roll sequences and playing to the advantages that develop out of it. For the Sixers, having Embiid as a screener and an elite shot creator in Irving would be truly dynamic.
If a team were to switch a ball screen Irving is orchestrating with Embiid as the screener, the Sixers would have an elite isolation threat on both sides of the exchange to attack a mismatch.
Irving’s proficiency as an off-the-catch scoring threat would make him a seamless fit playing within the flow of the Sixers’ offense when the team is dumping the ball down low to Embiid to go to work.
There’s another part to the dynamic where Irving could create rim pressure as a lane penetrator with his crafty ball-handling — leading to dump-off passing opportunities to create favorable finish attempts for Embiid.
There’s Risk With Kyrie Irving
As is the case for any team when evaluating a potential trade for Irving, the Sixers would need to consider the off-court risk associated with him. Ultimately, that appears to be why Philadelphia previously has not been interested.
However, the Sixers may have the only instance in the league where trading a player for Irving would be an improvement in that regard.
Simmons clearly never wants to play for the Sixers ever again and there is currently no COVID-19 mandate in the city of Philadelphia that would prevent Irving from participating in practices and game action.
With the lack of availability of superstar players on the trade market, the Sixers would need to decide the type of risks they are willing to take. Irving, who is one of the most talented offensive players around, is certainly worth at least thinking about.
There has been speculation that Irving would retire if he were to be traded by the Nets, but on an Instagram Live broadcast, he made it clear he is not considering retirement. Ultimately, that’s the risk the Sixers need to weigh.