Since silly season seemingly never ends in the NBA, it’s probably worth nothing more than a good laugh hearing the vaguest of rumblings that Kyrie Irving “could’ve ended up in Philly” as the Ben Simmons saga swirls around the league.
That quote comes courtesy of ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith who offered up the nugget on “First Take” the other morning. He said the Nets could have seriously explored a trade for Simmons, the beleaguered point guard doing everything he can right now to not play for the 76ers this upcoming season. That, of course, would’ve meant sending Irving, the Nets mercurial guard, to the 76ers. Smith took to Twitter Thursday to clarify his remarks he felt were getting all kinds of twisted.
Why Break Up a Good Thing?
A seven-time All-Star and NBA champion, with arguably the best handles this side of Steph Curry, who also just happens to be the best finisher around the basket we’ve ever seen for somebody his size, and who was a 40-50-90 guy last year, I’m not exactly going out on a limb here by saying there isn’t a player who comes close to resembling Irving who is only 29. Head over to Basketball Reference if you need to brush up on his voluminous accolades, but unless a player is really making his teammates’, coaches’, and general manager’s life miserable, you don’t get rid of him for an inferior player or package of inferior players/picks.
Irking Your Franchise Player
Marks said earlier this week that the team hopes to finalize an extension with Irving (and Harden) which means the Nets are publicly expressing their commitment to Irving, who seamlessly and successfully moved over to shooting guard to make way for Harden, for the long haul. You generally don’t do that if you’re looking to deal a player for a number of reasons, but the most obvious is the more money committed the harder it is to ship a player somewhere else. It’s not impossible, but way harder. While I know it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, just ask John Wall how that massive contract of his will stifle Houston’s attempts to find him a new home.
“This is something those guys know exactly how we feel, and I think they’ve been vocal about wanting to be part of this and build this together,” Marks told the media. “I think we’ve got an opportunity to hopefully build something special here for the foreseeable future. The fact that they want to collaborate, they want to come here together, they want to build this together.”
Of course, Marks has to paint a bright picture, that’s part of his job. But if things really were ominous regarding Irving, it’s doubtful he’d offer up that kind of assessment of negotiations. Irving is on the books for two more seasons (although 2022-23 is a player option) for approximately $35 million a pop. He can ink a massive extension whenever he likes for up to $181 million and an additional four years that would make him a Net into 2026. He’d make $45 million a season when the extension kicks in.
Pros
Erratic Behavior
Irving’s injured all the time. It’s unfortunate because that means basketball fans are robbed of watching his brilliance on a regular basis. But Irving’s only played in more than 70 games once in the past six seasons and just 74 over the past two. Plus, he’s undergone his fair share of surgeries. We all know his slight build makes him more susceptible to bumps, bruises, or worse. And his style of play—finishing around the basket among guys out-weighing him by 50, 60, 70 pounds—takes a heavy toll. If your best ability is your availability (apologies for dropping the vomit-inducing debate show sports cliche), then Irving has fallen short the past couple of campaigns and maybe, just maybe, the Nets would rather slot in someone into the rotation they could actually depend on. Bad luck plays a role in injuries—that should always go without saying—but you can’t deny that Irving’s maladies aren’t notable and his untimely and unfortunate absence in the Bucks series clearly cost Brooklyn. That could be a reason why the Nets feel like it’s best to ship him somewhere.
I guess you can make that case. But I’ll admit it ain’t a strong one. In Smith’s hypothetical, acquiring Simmons would absolutely give the Nets a different kind of playmaker who would shore up Brooklyn’s perimeter defense and add a bit of dynamism that you could argue is (kind of) missing from the current roster. But does that make Brooklyn better? We all know it would represent a step back offensively.
