After an injury filled season with the Big 3 of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving, it appears things may be changing in a huge way for next season.
The author of Can’t Knock the Hustle: Inside the Season of Protest, Pandemic, and Progress with the Brooklyn Nets’ Superstars of Tomorrow, Matt Sullivan, recently revealed the possibility of Nets general manager Sean Marks being open to considering trade offers for Irving, who didn’t play in the final three games of Brooklyn’s season-ending seven-game series against the Bucks due to an ankle injury.
Appearing on the Celtics Lab 52 podcast, Sullivan hinted that Marks is willing to dealing his 29-year-old point guard.
“I’ve heard that Nets ownership was quite upset with Kyrie’s ‘pause,’ especially that maskless party that turned his psuedo-paternity leave into more like a COVID suspension,” Sullivan said. “And in the last week I’ve heard rumblings — whispers, really, because cracking the Nets is kind of like breaking into the Kremlin — that Brooklyn GM Sean Marks would maybe, possibly, apparently be willing to at least listen to a trade offer for Kyrie this offseason.”
“Now, I’m not sure what the market for Kyrie is at this point,” Sullivan said. “It’s not like Ben Simmons giving you the headache on the court. It’s that complex personality that comes from off the court. I think it’s been annoying some people in the franchise. I can’t speak to his teammates, who obviously want to play with one of the world’s best and get him back there.”
Irving, Durant and Harden are all under contract for next year and have player options for ’22-’23.
Irving averaged 26.9 points on 50.6 percent shooting, 6.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds in 54 games for the Nets, who went 48-24 and finished second in the Eastern Conference during the 2020-21 regular season.
