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The Brooklyn Nets were offered a blockbuster trade package from the Phoenix Suns for Kyrie Irving headlined by Chris Paul, per Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes. Ultimately, the Nets turned down the Suns package featuring Paul in favor of the Mavericks deal with Spencer Dinwiddie.
“The Phoenix Suns, and this may surprise folks, sources have told me that they proposed a package based around Chris Paul and Jae Crowder and unspecified picks for Kyrie Irving,” Haynes detailed on NBA TV following the February 5, 2023 trade. “And at the end of the day, the Nets felt like the Mavericks had the best package because it was important to try to keep the team afloat with KD’s arrival coming in the next couple of weeks.”
Instead, Brooklyn moved Irving and Markieff Morris to Dallas in exchange for Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and draft picks. Paul has an impeccable resume with his accolades including being a 12-time All-Star and 11-time All-NBA player. The Nets may not have found the star’s $120 million contract appealing given the deal runs through the 2024-25 season (albeit partially guaranteed) with Paul having a $28.4 million salary for 2023. NBA insider Marc Stein reported on the “This League Uncut” podcast that the Nets are still considering moving Dinwiddie to another team prior to the February 9 trade deadline.
The Suns Began to Lose Interest in Trading for Kyrie Irving: Report
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Brooklyn was holding out for three first-round picks from Phoenix as part of the deal. This offer never came and the Suns began to “lose interest in a trade for Irving.”
“Phoenix offered a package around Paul, Jae Crowder and one first-round pick, sources said,” Charania detailed on February 5. “The offer was made within the first 18 hours of Irving’s trade request, and it’s believed that three first-round picks could have clinched a deal, multiple league sources said. However, the Suns never added those picks and failed to make a better offer, beginning to lose interest in a trade for Irving as time went on.”
Paul is averaging 13.8 points, 8.6 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 38.9% of his three-point attempts during his first 34 starts this season. The biggest remaining question for the Nets is how Kevin Durant will respond to the Irving trade given his unhappiness with the franchise last offseason.
Will the Nets Make Additional Trades in an Attempt to Keep Kevin Durant Happy?
There continues to be a growing buzz that the Nets are not finished doing business ahead of the trade deadline. ESPN’s Bobby Marks believes Brooklyn could target an opposing big man to add depth to their front court.
“After the Irving trade, the focus for Brooklyn shifts to continuing to upgrade the rest of the roster,” Marks wrote on February 6. “…If there is a position of need it would be their frontcourt.
“Brooklyn is last in defensive rebounding percentage and 21st in second-chance points allowed per game. As for the offensive side, the Nets rank 28th in second-chance points per game. They have been outscored by 3.5 second-chance points per game this season, the worst differential in the NBA.”
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