The Nets won’t have much leverage in negotiations with Kyrie Irving if he decides to opt out of his contract for next season and seek a five-year maximum deal worth nearly $250MM, writes Sean Deveney of Heavy. The option year was used to attract Irving in 2019 when he came to Brooklyn along with Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan to turn around a struggling franchise.
However, the results have been mixed over the the past three years, with just one playoff series win and several incidents that call into question the wisdom of a long-term deal for Irving, who played just 29 games this season because of his refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Deveney expects the Nets to drop public hints that they’re unsure about giving Irving a full max contract, hoping to convince him to opt in for next season or negotiate an extension for less money. However, Deveney believes Irving’s representatives would see that as a bluff and would insist on getting maximum value.
Brooklyn officials have a pattern of allowing Irving to do whatever he wants, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said in an appearance this week on “NBA Today” (video link). He points out that the team was originally unwilling to accept Irving as a part-time player and got off to a 21-9 start without him. The trajectory of the season changed when the front office reversed that decision.
There’s more from Brooklyn:
- The Nets and Barclays Center suffered losses this season estimated between $50MM and $100MM, a source tells Brian Lewis of The New York Post. That led owner Joe Tsai to force out John Abbamondi, the CEO of Brooklyn Sports Entertainment, which oversees both operations, and he’s now seeking his third top executive in less than three years. Although the Nets set records for attendance, they don’t have enough other revenue to support their $174MM payroll.
- After a strong second half and an impressive performance in the playoffs, Bruce Brown may be able to land a contract starting in the $8-10MM range, Lewis adds in a separate story. Brown will be an unrestricted free agent after accepting the team’s $4.7MM qualifying offer last summer.
- Brooklyn may have no other choice than to keep Ben Simmons and see how he can fit into the team next season, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. Teams were hesitant to make offers to the Sixers prior to the deadline, and there are even more doubts about Simmons’ condition after he failed to play at all for the Nets.
Signing KYRIE to a max contract is suicide… Let him sign else where and destroy another franchise… Danny had a great run in Boston, his only mistake was trading for Kyrie…. None of the players respected him and he lost the locker room in Boston, Brooklyn… In Cleveland, Lebron held him accountable.
Only way I take him is if he opts in. Then I would trade him. He is a franchise killer. Why would anyone give this guy a contract.
The one time I’ll agree with you.
I bet if Brooklyn refuses to sign him. The Knicks would give him anything he wants.
Wrong
Precisely why the Knicks would sign him. You can’t kill a franchise that’s already dead.
China
Irving is worth 4 year 120 m
On-court Irving is worth 4/$120
Off-court Irving is worth 0/$000
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2/$60 or let him walk
Kyrie on a max will turn out to be worse than Harden on a max
I’m not advocating for a max extension for Kyrie nor am I condoning how he handled this season (I do not), however, I think it’s a bit disingenuous to say the trajectory of the season changed based on the decision to allow him to play part time. The trajectory of the season changed based on the Omicron outbreak that sent three-quarters of the team at one time or another into the protocols. That was when the organization felt its hands were forced to allow him to play part time. Even with the protocols, the biggest part of their downward spiral was playing long stretches without Kevin Durant. First it was due to the protocols, then it was due to injury. During the first wave of COVID during the season while they had KD, they were still winning even with a decimated roster. Once he went into the protocols, it was devastating. They were overmatched by the Magic. I wouldn’t even point to the Beard forcing the trade. They were struggling with him without KD. Even without Simmons, Curry and Drummond injected some life into the team.
The best thing Kyrie could do is accept the option and prove he can be counted on for a full season before he signs an extension. A fully healthy team could make a strong run for a title.
Totally agree with you, what a way to tell porkies!
BRK’s season went to pot when KD got injured & it had absolutely nothing to do with Kyrie coming back to play!
That was such a bad take Mr Hill!
One must wonder that you ain’t a Kyrie fan, right?
Kyrie wants to be the Kanye of the NBA. Immensely talented, but whack AF. He’s succeeding. To the tune of a team second guessing what should be a no brain decision based on talent alone. At least he isn’t abusing women or children I’ll give him that. But would you S&T him to a desperate team like the Wolves for DLo and pick(s)? They already have one head case in Simmons to deal this off-season.
They could send Simmons to LAL where he wants to go all along, Westbrick to Charlotte, and Gordon Hayward to Brooklyn and Rozier to LAL.
Tsai will end up selling the team. It reminds me of Prokhorov. They think they will get a good NYC franchise, spend too much on an roster that won’t contend for the title, see the revenue bleed money, then sell it to the next hopeful owner.
Yea but Prokhorov made money because of the value of the team went up thats why he sold.
Also, big reason Putin wanted him to sell, not a good look with Russian owning NBA team…and he made money…
If the Nets sign Kyrie king only next year will they have a shot. Durant is getting older. Not having Harris hurt this team more than it shows. Simmons needs to play a year win a championship then get traded out west. Hopefully for the sake of the Franchise Kyrie opts in.
If I’m KD I’m demanding a trade out of Brooklyn. What a disaster.
LET him opt out and get shocked!!! There’s no max market for him. He might get 3 yrs. Nets should do sign and trade, so they cam keep the salary slot.
There’s always a sucker out there who will be dumb enough to give him the contract he wants.
Hey, as a Nets fan, they are a mess… Can Ben still play with any sense of confidence in a critical playoff situation. What do you do with KYRIE extension? They need a defensive culture infusion, whether that’s Ben with other players brought in? A lot to be resolved…
Just left a prior reply…. NETS are a mess as mentioned in prior email…. BEN? KYRIE? NO D, KD getting older, banged up, injury prone…I AGREE, KYRIE is not the answer, he doesn’t play, injury, Covid, religious reasons, world wide issues, US issues, personal reasons…..
I’m Nets I only sign him if it’s a sign-n-trade. Otherwise I want him to opt in. If he gets in line and wants to win with KD. We got all yr to sign him. And I agree with Stephen A. One yr at a time, with strict clauses in contract. If he refuses then I trade him. Time for the adults to run this show.
Best case scenario- Somehow Irving opts in for the 1 year…If so….you run it with Ben Irving KD and see how it goes
Worst case scenario- Probably everything else under the sun and KD is traded after the 23′ failed season
I feel for Tsai, he put up over a quarter billion to bring in the trio not so long ago. While history probably won’t treat him kindly this is everything you want from your owner in the moment.
As a fan this should be acknowledged in some capacity before the city gets burned down along with all the truths held in its literature. 2023 is a huge year for them