It will take a cultural “reset” for Kyrie Irving to succeed with the Nets, ESPN’s Adrian Wojanrowski said in an appearance on “Get Up” Wednesday morning (video link).
Irving has opted in to his $36.9MM salary for next season, ending speculation that he might consider free agency, but his decision doesn’t seem to have settled anything in Brooklyn. Wojnarowski stated that rival teams will continue to monitor the Nets’ situation to see if they will consider trading Irving, either during the summer or once the season starts.
Woj also said the organization needs Irving and Kevin Durant to become team leaders heading into free agency and to help develop a plan for next season. Brooklyn has important decisions to make on a number of free agents, most notably Nic Claxton and possibly Patty Mills.
Appearing on the same show, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst revealed that Nets owner Joe Tsai and general manager Sean Marks won’t accept a continuation of the atmosphere that surrounded the team this season. He adds that the permissive approach the Nets have taken with Irving over the past three years factored into extension talks.
“It wasn’t just about how Kyrie treated the vaccine mandate, it was about how he treated his teammates and how Kyrie Irving treated his coaches,” Windhorst said. “So part of this renegotiation wasn’t just gonna be about a contract extension. It was gonna be about a renegotiation of the way the team operated. And, by the way, this wasn’t a Kyrie Irving issue. The team gave Irving all of this leverage as the way they operated over the past three years.”
Windhorst noted that there’s an urgency that goes beyond Irving’s message of “see you in the fall” when he announced his opt-in decision. He stressed that Irving needs to engage with management now and prove that he’s able to move beyond the “status quo” that resulted in a first-round playoff sweep.
There’s more on the Irving situation:
- In a separate clip, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps called Irving’s extension negotiations an “acrimonious process” and debated with Windhorst about whether a deal with the Lakers involving Russell Westbrook and draft compensation could eventually become an option.
- The Lakers were considered the leaders in the effort to work out a sign-and-trade for Irving, but the Mavericks, Heat and Sixers investigated their options as well, Shams Charania of The Athletic said in an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show (hat tip to Clutch Points).
- Irving posted a video Tuesday with his first comments since deciding to opt in, relays Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “This is a great moment in my spiritual path, being present enough to understand that it’s not me doing all this. At this point I’m being pushed in certain directions,” Irving said, adding, “You can’t be afraid to make mistakes, in private or out in the open. The mistakes that you do make, you’ve got to learn from them.”
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working out a sign-and-trade for Irving, the Mavericks, Heat and Sixers would help Nets on luxury tax rises.
I thought nets didn’t want Russ . So how that work unless it a 3 team trade with a team that will take Russ
No one wants Russ unless bad contracts are unloaded or buyouts are involved.
Nets say no because of luxury tax
Hield, Brogdon and Lakers 1 First to Nets
Westbrook and Lakers 1 First to Pacers
Irving to Lakers
Lakers would be much better if Irving signs $6 million contract
That was e reporter talking, drumming up more talking. Another opposed.
Kyrie is a joke, he literally took advantage of the Nets for the last 3 yrs and ruined the team. Trade him away!
Irving plays only 35% of games for the past 3 years.
When he did play, he was never in shape. Was always a distraction for 3 yrs and the team was never able to form chemistry on and off the court.
Not true that he was “never in shape.” There were times he was dominant. He’s just been away from the team more than with them and that’s a liability… I’m disappointed Patty opted out because he could be a good support system for Ben and Kyrie. They could still try to bring him back, but, with Joey Buckets returning, that’s doubtful.
@Michol
no need to embellish. kyrie was nothing short of elite when he played.
47/42/82 with 27/5/5 ??? yeesh.
Celtic fans know exactly how you feel.
“You’ve got to learn from your mistakes” says Kyrie Irving, immediately after blaming other people for his situation.
Hopefully, no team will offer him more than minimum going forward. So he can just retire for good.
Irving needs a “cultural reset” in his brain. flat earth- bahahahaha! So sad & hilariously pathetic.
He only has a few more years left on his spiritual journey in the NBA. Worst case scenario he tries to stay in the public eye via politics. More likely he will become another grifter that plagues the US with his particular brand of self indulgent idiocy.
Hard to “be present” Kyrie when, you know, you weren’t present.
If Kyrie were on the Spurs, none of this would be happening.
@x%sure
or Phil Jackson was his coach/guru/shaman
just place an order to “hey emjay”, hop in one of those Inipi and load up on Gatorade and orange slices before game time. #powwowzi
I wish I could crawl in his brain and see the world thru his eyes and then return back to reality on command. he definitely hasn’t been dedicated to the nets but he’s been a very good philanthropist and supporter to his Native Indian and African American causes. I can’t knock him for his off court social interests. he just needs to remember what he gets paid ssd’s o much money to do that ALLOWS him to be so charitable.