Getty Kyrie Irving tries to get past Russell Westbrook of the Washington Wizards.
If there is one thing that we learned from the Golden State Warriors blowout of the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday, it is that the Nets are not amongst the elite teams in the NBA. Although they sit in the second playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a record of 11-5, it is clear that they need more talent on the roster if they are hoping to be serious title contenders.
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Trade Proposal: Brooklyn Nets Ship Kyrie Irving to Spurs
The Nets need a shakeup in the worst way. With no return date in sight for their superstar Kyrie Irving, Andy Bailey of “Bleacher Report” believes that the Nets should cut their losses with the All-Star and trade him to the San Antonio Spurs to bring in some immediate help.
“For one thing, San Antonio is a far cry from Brooklyn. But Irving could actually play despite being unvaccinated in Texas,” Bailey writes.
“Irving would give San Antonio something it simply doesn’t have right now: a star. Building around Kyrie has proven difficult, at best, for multiple teams, but the Spurs’ organizational infrastructure and plenty of smart, unselfish complementary players could give them a better chance than some of his previous employers.”
This trade is anything but a fair exchange for the Nets. In exchange they would get Spurs big man Thaddeus Young, shooting guard Derrick White, and a lottery-protected first-round draft pick. But with no return date on the schedule, and an expiring contract getting anything back for Irving is a win for the Nets at this point.
“For Brooklyn, this is clearly a significant talent downgrade, but Derrick White and Thaddeus Young are both positive contributors who would have no problem moving the ball to stars like Kevin Durant and James Harden,” Bailey continued. “That alone gives the Nets far more than Irving can right now. And for a team with two stars in their 30s, right now is pretty important.”
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Steve Nash Says the Nets Are Not Elite Yet
The Nets have struggled against the NBA’s elite teams. Versus the Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, and Warriors they lost by double-digits with two of those losses coming at home. Although the Nets sit just one game behind the first-place Washington Wizards Nets head coach Steve Nash doesn’t believe that his team has earned the right to be named amongst the NBA’s elite.
“Well, I just don’t think we’re in that category yet. We got a lot of work to do. We’re trying to improve as a group, get better and hopefully, we can find a way to overcome some of our deficiencies by the end of the year,” Nash said after the loss to the Warriors per NetsDaily.
“It takes time. We started the year with a continuity plan from last year that got thrown out the window obviously when Kyrie [Irving] didn’t come back, so we’re trying to build and figure it out. [It] was a great lesson for us that we got to double-down on some of our principles when the going gets tough.”
At this point of the season, the Nets have shown that although they are a good team, they are lacking without Kyrie’s services. With there still being uncertainty on if he will play this season, testing the waters of the trade market could be worth looking into at the very least.
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