Potential Options If the Nets Decide to Trade Kyrie Irving

MILWAUKEE, WI - JUNE 13: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets looks on during Round 2, Game 4 of the 2021 NBA Playoffs on June 13 2021 at the Fiserv Forum Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images).

Honestly, it’s hard to envision much right now. As I wrote above, what sane NBA general manager would give up significant assets to acquire the mercurial Irving who is as unpredictable as it gets? There’s always one dumb owner that will insert himself into a situation he doesn’t belong and the NBA features more than a few who have previously hijacked trade negotiations, making nonsensical moves because they could or loved the juice it would bring to their organization. If you know, you know. Especially if you’re a New York basketball fan. But what owner would sign off on an Irving trade right now? Until he gets vaccinated, he’s bad for business and he’s putting others around the organization at risk. 

The other aspect of the Irving situation that makes getting true value on his talent practically impossible is what sane general manager would trade for a guy who can be a free agent next summer? Irving carries a $36.5 million player option for the 2022-23 season and is eligible for a maximum salary that would pay him in excess of $40 million, but nothing about him going forward is guaranteed and trading anything of real value for such a wild card flies in the face of prudence and smart business. No GM wants to lose a trade and you could easily lose a trade dealing for Irving given his volatility. And even though he claimed in the IG Live he has no desire to retire, there have been reports that Irving would call it a career if the Nets ever traded him. 

Also, who else on the Nets’ roster—I’m talking young talent, not expensive Joe Harris—is attractive enough to request to be packaged with Irving? It’s really slim pickings with Brooklyn. The Nets, reportedly, are no longer looking to offer Irving the massive extension he’s eligible for and you would think that any team seriously interested in acquiring Irving would want more than just a seasonal rental. If, he was in fact, fully committed to playing basketball into his early 30s. So while Irving’s talent is unquestioned, all the other factors swirling around him make him a landmine right now.      

It’s incredibly difficult to imagine Irving getting shipped anywhere right now, if we’re being dead serious about this exercise. Of course things can change, sometimes even rapidly in the modern NBA. In theory, every team should be wildly interested and salivating over the idea that an NBA champion, who is a maestro with the basketball, could be available via trade. A seven-time All-Star who has made three All-NBA teams who is only 29, there are a ton of teams that would love to have Irving in the backcourt if he was all in on basketball instead of talking in circles on social media.

Remember that any free agent signed over the summer can’t be dealt until a few months into the season—so that inhibits the trade market. Sure, there are a few squads around the Association that absolutely could use an upgrade at either shooting guard and point guard. And if you use your imagination, there are some interesting landing spots for Irving. But as you’ll also see we can easily poke holes in all of the sexy ones and easily toss out some logical ones. Everything you read below is massively hypothetical, completely speculative, and likely never happens in a million years. But because, sadly, way too many NBA fans love the off-the-court drama more than the games, let’s start by talking about the odorous point guard problem in Philadelphia.

Sixers

On the surface, it’s a classic problem-for-problem swap that has been proposed approximately 1,593,932 times on Twitter, Reddit, and every cable debate show this week. Ben Simmons doesn’t want to stick around Philly and his salary matches up nicely with Irving’s. Simmons arguably would give the Nets an awesome dimension they’ve been missing since he’s a defensive dynamo. But it ain’t happening. Practically every single insider around the league has dismissed a Simmons for Irving swap for a litany of reasons—like why would Philadelphia take on arguably the bigger, more problematic diva? While it makes sense superficially, the deeper you dig the uglier it actually gets. Simmons—like Irving—is not vaccinated. So unless he decides to take the jab, why would Brooklyn deal for a guy who can’t play in home games?  

Raptors

There’s a vaccine mandate in Canada so off the bat, this is also a non-starter. But I bring up the Raptors because Pascal Siakam is a name that maybe, possibly could be had for the right package. The Raptors are rebuilding without tearing things completely down. They’re definitely in a transitional period and Siakam’s rehabbing from a shoulder injury. But Siakam has built up a lot of goodwill within the organization and the city since he helped the Raptors win a championship in 2019 and there haven’t been any serious indications Toronto wants to move him. Don’t forget about Goran Dragic, either. 

Kings

Do the Kings have a track record of doing dumb shit? Their list of roster related fuck-ups is a mile long. But acquiring Irving at the expense of their young core might be a new level of stupid. That being said, yes, an Irving trade with Sacramento is doable. Swapping Irving for De’Aaron Fox is the obvious starting point. However, throwing cold water on any Kings trade speculation was Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer who wrote this week that the Kings have made Fox and second-year wing Tyrese Haliburton off-limits. Fox, who signed a massive extension last November, can’t be traded until Nov. 24 as stipulated in his contract.   

Mavericks

Luka Doncic forever needs a star sidekick and Irving would instantly upgrade the Mavericks backcourt into being the NBA’s most elite—at least offensively speaking. Kristaps Porzingis could be the starting point since he’s the sexiest candidate Dallas has. Or there could be a package built around Tim Hardaway Jr. and some of the Mavericks excellent role players. But Hardaway can’t be traded until Dec. 15 after re-signing with Dallas during the offseason and Mavs owner Mark Cuban recently said on “10 Questions With Kyle Brandt” that he’s requiring his employees to be inoculated unless they have a “doctor’s reason.” We’re still waiting on Irving to give us one legitimate reason why he’s not vaccinated. Next. 

Spurs

Brooklyn already has a few former Spurs on the roster. Why not add more? Any hypothetical package would, you’d think, have to start with Dejounte Murray plus some extra pieces. But the chances of Gregg Popovich—who has never been afraid to speak his mind coherently, intelligently, and with reverence—giving up significant pieces of the Spurs young core and/or tolerating the looniness of Irving are slim to none.