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Kyrie Irving’s future with the Brooklyn Nets may be in jeopardy. After the All-Star point guard only played 29 games for the franchise in the 2021-22 season, the Nets have been reluctant to sign him to a max contract extension. On June 20, Shams Charania of “The Athletic” reported that Irving and the Nets have hit an “impasse” in contract talks. Irving has until June 29 to opt into the final year of his deal. If he doesn’t he will undoubtedly become the hottest NBA free agent on the market this summer.
Even if Irving does opt-in, the Nets could still trade him if they are not confident he will re-sign with them when he is a free agent next summer. NBA Analyst Nick Wright suggests a trade where Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons join LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers and Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook go to the Brooklyn Nets.
“If you’re the Lakers, Ben Simmons can play center. LeBron and Kyrie are reunited. If you’re the Nets and you want to see if it can work with Russ, if there’s any team that has enough shooting, it’s the team that has Seth, Joe Harris, Patty Mills, and Kevin Durant,” Wright said on the June 21 edition of “First Things First”.
“And if it doesn’t work, you buy him out midway through the year or just let the contract expire. That is a trade that I think both teams have an ‘All hands-on deck’ meeting for. Our second and third-best players for your second and third-best players. Let’s see if we can shake the snow globe because, as presently constituted, both teams need to shake the damn snow globe.”
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Analyst Sounds off on ‘Delusional’ Kyrie
The Nets and Kyrie have reached a standstill on negotiations for a new contract. He still has yet to play a full season for the Nets since he joined the franchise in 2019 free agency. And missing half of the 2022 season has contributed to the Nets’ reluctance to offer the point guard a fully guaranteed deal. ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith called Irving ‘delusional’ for even thinking he deserves such a deal.
“And [Kyrie Irving] thinks that he deserves a four-year extension, fully loaded on top of the $36.5 million. I mean what nerve, what gal. Talk about delusional, I mean that’s this dude, that’s Kyrie Irving,” Smith said during the June 20 episode of “First Take”.
Nets in Danger Zone With Kyrie
The Nets have entered the danger zone when it comes to Kyrie. The situation could unravel very quickly if they are not careful. Irving has a player option on his deal that allows him to become a free agent as soon as this summer.
After losing All-Star point guard James Harden at this year’s trade deadline, and no guarantee that key players such as Nicolas Claxton and Bruce Brown will return, the Nets roster could have significantly less firepower next season.
The priority for the Nets front office has to be resigning Irving. By any means necessary. Letting him walk (especially for nothing) could be detrimental to the future of the franchise.
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