After the Brooklyn Nets disastrous season ended prematurely after the first round of the NBA playoffs at the hands of his ex-team, the Boston Celtics, Kyrie Irving spoke about how he Kevin Durant were going to steer the ship with General Manager Sean Marks and owner Joe Tsai. Marks quickly said, not so fast. Since that point, it has a been a dance between the controversial star and the Nets management whether or not Irving would opt-in to be a Brooklyn Net in 2022-23, be traded, or opt out for free agency. Irving requested a full five-year, $245 million max contract from Brooklyn. He has missed 130 games in 3 seasons since 2019.
According to Kristian Winfield of nydailynews.com, the star Brooklyn guard opted into his $36.5 million player option for the the upcoming season. Irving’s camp apparently could not find a sign-and-trade partner that wanted the 7-time All Star. Given his tumultuous season that saw him play only 29 games for Brooklyn, the 30 year-old smartly opted not to try his hand at free agency. Winfield said that Irving had a deadline of Wednesday at 5 p.m. to decide to opt in or become a free-agent.
Winfield noted that “Irving’s representation requested and received permission to speak to the NBA’s other front offices about a sign-and-trade on Monday, the Daily News first reported Monday morning, but according to ESPN, the Los Angeles Lakers were the only team interested in such a deal. The Nets had no interest in taking back Russell Westbrook, the former…
