Why Kyrie Irving Isn’t Going Anywhere…
Once again we’ve found ourselves at, what’s grown to be, one of the more exciting points of the NBA season — the brink of free agency.
The big story?
With two days left for Kyrie Irving to opt into his player option of $36,503,300.00 (guaranteed), player and team appear to be at an impasse — which even with a vast history of ridiculous statements, acts, and positions, truly has me at a loss for words… but allow me to collect my thoughts;
Sigh.
After weeks of contentious, middle-school-esque murmuring between the two sides with Joe Tsai and Sean Marks making it clear that they had no intention of rewarding Irving, who effectively voluntarily sat out approximately 63% (143/246) of games over a three year stretch, with either a four-year $190M or five-year $245M contract, the time is nearing for both player and team to reveal their cards.
With that said, within the past two weeks it’s become abundantly clear what each side is holding. On one side, Kyrie Irving has effectively ZERO leverage in this situation, to the point where even Kevin Durant, the twitter-finger king, has opted to remain mum and allow this situation to settle itself over jumping to the front of the picket line to voice his opinion on a matter in which he consequently holds more leverage than the player holding the cards. This speaks volumes, as it’s become more clear over time that the Nets not only don’t have to extend Irving, but don’t intend to any time soon.
So what are Kyrie’s options in this situation, and what are the implications of those options?
Option 1: Kyrie opts into his $36,503,300.00 player option. God, what a horrible option to have here. Earn more than the average Fortune-500 CEO to remain in his hometown, and compete with his great friend and one of the best basketball players on earth for a coveted second NBA title…
(Editor’s note: The Nets, since joining the NBA in 1976, have never won a title. Irving, Kyrie, not Julius, won his title with Cleveland and Durant won his with Golden State.)
The implications here are relatively self explanatory. Kyrie opts in, everyone forgets about this saga if he actually decides to show up and play more than half a season at or near his potential, and even if the Nets don’t achieve all of their goals this season, he likely gets his nine-figure, multiyear extension at the end of the season. Sounds pretty good, right? By opting in, he still has the potential to seek a trade, though it would take some serious maneuvering for him to end up at one of the destinations on his alleged wishlist.
Option 2: Kyrie calls the Nets bluff, refuses to opt into his (tries not to throw up typing this again) $36,503,300.00 player option, and becomes a free agent…
The implications of this option would mean that the Nets would now be forced to officially show some of their hand by either allowing him to walk, or attempting to negotiate a two+ year deal, whether that be to continue to build around him, or to create a more tradable contract that the Nets could use to attempt to yield a return that would help them on their quest to continue building a championship roster around Durant.
On the other hand, Brooklyn carries all of the leverage in this situation. The size and duration of Kevin Durant’s contract means that, even if all things went south with Irving to the point where Durant ultimately decided he didn’t want to continue his career in Brooklyn, the return on a KD-force-and-trade would be massive enough for the Nets to find themselves still in a solid position to compete now, or with a stockpile of assets aimed at helping the team build for the future.
The paragraph above sums up why the Nets haven’t budged in any contract talks with Irving, and likely won’t anytime soon. Both Owner and General Manager are aligned in a plan that revolves around keeping the team’s options open, rather than handcuffing their future to a guard who quit on his last team, became so unreliable for his current team that he invited James Harden to the same, predictably forcing his way back into Daryl Morey’s loving arms (I’m being a jerk at this point… it’s just too easy!!), and shows no promise of being anything that resembles a reliable championship piece.
Over the past five years Irving has effectively been as valuable to his team as John Wall, if Wall was allowed to show up and play in games whenever he wanted, practically speaking. The only team he’s been on that’s reached a Conference Finals in that span were the Boston Celtics, which he was predictably out injured for. The fall of Kyrie Irving from untouchable superstar to where we are today has been long, steady, and one thing we can confidently say he’s earned.
Notably, I haven’t brought up the Los Angeles Lakers, but have reached the inevitable point in discussing any big-named pending free agent where there’s no other choice. Yes. The Lakers are the one team “interested” in Irving moving forward. But what does this actually mean? Sure, they would trade Russell Westbrook’s horrendous contract to give Irving a … slightly … less horrendous deal. That’s one thing that even I could get behind from a Lakers perspective. But why would the Nets ever, in a million years, agree to something like this, when they stand to be in a less horrible position by simply allowing Kyrie to walk, and not enable a team that they’re competing against?
While Irving could technically opt out of his contract and sign a one-year, mid-level exception (MLE) deal with the Lakers for roughly ~$6M, that would mean Irving chose to take a ~$30M pay-cut … all to stick it to his former franchise, and prove his right to freedom to effectively no-one but himself? Has Irving already not proven this to himself by collecting roughly ~$20M last year to not play basketball?
At what point would he realize that he’s playing himself, and not proving anything to anyone. These are not the moves of a social warrior, a scarred genius, or anything resembling either of those things. In reality, it would be the move of someone afraid to admit wrongdoing, and a blatant attempt to punish a franchise for not wanting to reward him for eating up a third of their cap over the past three years to provide them effectively nothing in return outside of some jersey sales and unwanted media attention.
This would be a new low for Irving, and it’s why his only true option is to remain with the Nets, whether it be by showing his bluff last minute and opting into his (one last time) $36,503,300.00 player option, or declining the option and working out something to the tune of a two/three year, prove-it, player option final year deal that gave both sides flexibility in the future, and the Nets the slightest bit of trade value in the interim.
Expect it to be done. Soon.
