Kyrie Irving Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Woj: Lakers Willing To Trade Two First-Round Picks

August 17th, 2022 at 8:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Lakers remain active in trade talks and would part with their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks in the right deal, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said in an appearance on Sports Center (video link).

Those picks “have a lot of value in the marketplace” if they’re unprotected, Wojnarowski states. He adds that L.A. would be willing to give them up in a trade for Kyrie Irving, but the Nets haven’t been interested.

The Lakers have also engaged in “on and off again” talks with the Pacers about Myles Turner and Buddy Hield, sources tell Wojnarowski, but L.A. wouldn’t trade both future first-rounders in that deal.

Russell Westbrook would have to be included in either trade with Brooklyn or Indiana to help match salaries.

The Lakers are hoping to add outside shooting and size before the regular season begins in October, per Wojnarowski. However, holding on to their draft picks gives them the ability to do something later in the season if a better opportunity arises.

Woj also addresses LeBron James‘ decision to accept a contract extension, saying it eases the pressure on the front office to make a trade right away. He adds that James decided to take the extension after examining the free agent market in 2023 and not seeing a scenario he prefers to staying with the Lakers.

Irving’s Agent: Kyrie Doesn’t “Hate” Marks, Nash

August 9th, 2022 at 8:36pm CST by Luke Adams

Responding to a New York Post report in which a source claimed that Kyrie Irving “hates” Nets general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash, Irving’s agent and stepmother Shetallia Riley Irving told Brian Lewis and Josh Kosman of The New York Post that’s not the case.

“I am not sure where this narrative is coming from but Kyrie does not hate Steve nor Sean,” Shetallia Riley Irving said. “That’s not a part of his being nor how he represents himself in the world. He’s about peace, love and acceptance.”

While Kyrie and agent may dispute the notion that he “hates” Marks or Nash, that doesn’t necessarily mean he loves the job they’ve been doing in Brooklyn.

Irving and the Nets have been at odds in multiple instances over the past year. The club’s front office and ownership group opted not to allow Irving to be a part-time player at the start of last season when he was ineligible to play in Brooklyn due to New York City’s vaccine mandate. The Nets were then unwilling to offer him a lucrative long-term contract this summer, prompting him to explore a move to another team before he eventually decided to pick up his 2022/23 player option.

According to Lewis and Kosman, Shetallia Riley Irving declined to comment on whether Irving agrees with Kevin Durant, who reportedly told Nets owner Joe Tsai that he must decide between trading Durant or firing Marks and Nash.

Atlantic Notes: Irving, Simmons, Brunson, Harris

August 9th, 2022 at 12:47pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Durant‘s desire to see the Nets get rid of general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash is shared by teammate Kyrie Irving, a source tells Mark W. Sanchez and Josh Koshman of The New York Post. Irving picked up his $36.9MM option and reportedly doesn’t mind playing in Brooklyn next season, but the source says he shares Durant’s views on the organization’s leadership.

“Kyrie Irving hates these guys. He feels that Nash is terrible and Marks is bad,” the source said, adding that “KD came to the same conclusion.”

Irving has more obvious reasons to hold a negative view of management than Durant does. The Nets were unwilling to offer him a long-term contract if he had opted out and they refused to allow him to be a part-time player last season when he was ineligible for home games because of his vaccine stance. That decision lasted until a short-handed roster forced them to change their minds in December.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Shams Charania of The Athletic disputes a rumor that Ben Simmons pulled out of a Nets group chat when teammates asked if he was going to play in Game 4 of the playoff series against the Celtics. Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show (video link), Charania said the incident “never happened” and added that Simmons is “looking good” this summer and the team has “high, high expectations” for him in the upcoming season.
A few New York fans got to see Jalen Brunson play his first game alongside some of his new Knicks teammates Monday, per Matthew Neschis of The New York Post. Brunson received a standing ovation during introductions as he teamed up with Julius Randle and Obi Toppin in the Nike Pro City playoffs, a summer league in the Bronx. “You have a lot of kids [here] who can’t afford the opportunity to go to a Knicks game,” league director Bernard Bowen said, “so for those guys to come and play in that atmosphere where it’s free for the kids, it’s a blessing.”
Kyle Neubeck of Philly.com looks at the best-case and worst-case scenarios for Sixers forward Tobias Harris, who moved into a different role last season following the James Harden trade.

Nets’ Durant Reportedly Reiterates Trade Request, Gives Tsai Ultimatum

August 8th, 2022 at 1:49pm CST by Luke Adams

In a face-to-face meeting with Nets owner Joe Tsai in London on Saturday, star forward Kevin Durant reiterated his desire to be traded and gave Tsai an ultimatum, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.

According to Charania, Durant told the Nets owner that he needs to choose between trading him or firing general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash. Durant said that he doesn’t have faith in the team’s direction, sources tell The Athletic.

Charania says his sources described Saturday’s meeting as “transparent and professional,” adding that the Nets have “direct knowledge of the reasons behind Durant’s request” and have reason to believe he’ll be resolute in his stance. People around the NBA have speculated about the possibility that the two-time Finals MVP won’t report to training camp if the Nets don’t make a deal within the next seven weeks, per Charania.

Sources tell The Athletic that Brooklyn has spoken to nearly every team in the NBA about a possible Durant trade, but no club has met the Nets’ “sky-high” asking price. According to Charania, the Celtics, Heat, and Raptors are widely viewed as the most legitimate suitors for the 33-year-old, who is entering the first season of a four-year, maximum-salary extension.

Charania cites sources who say that Tsai and the Nets have “made clear privately that they will take every last asset from a team that trades for Durant.” However, it’s hard to see how the team has the leverage to make that sort of deal, given these latest developments in the summer saga.

Of course, Marks and Nash held their current positions when Durant signed that four-year extension a year ago, and the star forward was believed to have played a role in Nash’s hiring in the first place, back in 2020. It’s unclear why Durant has soured to such a significant extent on Brooklyn’s leadership group.

It’s possible Durant’s dissatisfaction is related, at least in part, to the team’s handling of his good friend Kyrie Irving. The Nets refused to allow Irving to be a part-time player during the first half of last season when vaccine requirements prohibited him from playing home games. The club then opted against offering Kyrie a lucrative long-term extension this offseason.

While recent reports have indicated that Irving plans to be a Net to start the 2022/23 season, there’s a belief that Brooklyn will seriously consider trading him if and when the team finds a Durant deal it likes.

Nets Notes: Lineup, Simmons, Offseason, Trades

August 7th, 2022 at 9:19pm CST by JD Shaw

The Nets are expected to test lineups with Ben Simmons at center next season, as NetsDaily outlines. Head coach Steve Nash discussed Simmons’ unique ability to play and defend multiple positions when the 2021/22 campaign ended.

“I think he plays both (point guard and center),” Nash said. “He’s just such a well-rounded, versatile athlete and skilled player that I think it would be limiting to say, ‘Hey, you’ve got to handle the ball all the time. You have to facilitate the offense all the time.’ That’s what’s special about him is the varied skills he brings to the table.

“So, yes, he’ll facilitate and be the point guard. He’ll also sometimes be the center. Other times he’ll be the guy that’s just playing position-less basketball, trying to create offense in the halfcourt. So for me, it’s playing to his strengths, which are varied, and all those things are a part of it.”

Brooklyn can play Simmons at forward, but if they start Nicolas Claxton at center, the fit may become awkward with two non-shooters. However, the team does have several top shooters in the league, including Kyrie Irving, Patty Mills, Seth Curry, Joe Harris and Kevin Durant, to partially offset that issue.

Here are some other notes out of Brooklyn:

Since there appears to be no inclination to trade Simmons, Brian Lewis of the New York Post (member-only link) examines the challenges and potential upside in using him. Simmons is a versatile defender and strong play-maker who struggles with shooting. At 6’11” and 240 pounds, he’s also a strong finisher, but his primary position is still unclear with this Nets team.
A panel of ESPN analysts (video link) discuss senior writer Kevin Pelton’s decision to grade the Nets’ offseason as a D-plus. Pelton didn’t love that the team traded a first-round pick for Royce O’Neale and cited the lingering uncertainty surrounding Irving and Durant’s futures.
Speaking of Irving and Durant, we recently examined the latest on the duo. As SNY.tv’s Ian Begley relayed, sources around the situation were pessimistic about a Durant trade being finalized anytime soon. Irving, on the other hand, is reportedly focused on staying with Brooklyn entering the season.

Atlantic Notes: Brunson, Irving, Raptors

August 5th, 2022 at 8:40pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

As the NBA continues its investigation into the timing of the Knicks‘ free agent acquisition of point guard Jalen Brunson, Fred Katz of The Athletic parses through the extant evidence. Rumors ahead of 2022 free agency suggested Brunson would leave the Mavericks for the Knicks to the tune of a fresh four-year, $104MM deal. When that chatter proved to be true, the league opted to look into just what transpired, and when.

Katz notes that it’s difficult to discern just what kind of pre-free agency conversations the NBA will frown upon, in part given the fact that Jalen’s father, former New York point guard Rick Brunson, was hired as an assistant coach under Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau in June. Knicks team president Leon Rose, once an NBA agent representing Rick, has known both Brunsons for decades.

Last year, the league opted to penalize the Bulls and Heat for what it perceived to be tampering violations in their 2021 sign-and-trade moves for Lonzo Ball and Kyle Lowry, respectively. Each team was forced to surrender an upcoming second-round pick. This year, in addition to the Knicks, the NBA is also investigating the Sixers for possible tampering violations.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

When Nets point guard Kyrie Irving returned to his native New Jersey for his pro-am “More Than A Run” All-Star Game at Kean University, Brooklyn made a point to showcase the moment on the team’s official social media platforms. In an effort to read the tea leaves, Adam Zagoria of NJ.com suggests that it appears to be increasingly possible Irving returns to Brooklyn this fall, rather than being offloaded in a trade ahead of the season. Kyrie’s teammates Kessler Edwards, David Duke Jr., and Royce O’Neale were all in attendance at the New Jersey event.
Heat point guard Kyle Lowry, at some point during his successful run with the Raptors, attempted to lure Vince Carter back to Toronto, Lowry revealed on Carter’s podcast The Vince Carter Show (Twitter video link via Uninterrupted Canada). “I tried to get Vince back with us at one point,” Lowry said. “We had conversations,” Carter confirmed. “We tried to get it done, it didn’t work out,” Lowry continued. “I was one of the biggest advocates that tried to get him back in Toronto and Vince was all-in.” It is unclear exactly when this recruitment transpired, but presumably this came fairly late in Carter’s illustrious career. The Raptors originally drafted Carter with the fifth pick out of North Carolina. The 6’6″ wing was named to his first five All-Star teams while with Toronto, before eventually being traded to the Nets in the midst of what was to be his sixth consecutive All-Star season in 2004/05. An eight-time All-Star overall, Carter would go on to play for an NBA-record 22 seasons. He finally retired at age 43 in 2020, following a two-year stint as a bench role player with the Hawks.
In case you missed it, 6’11” Serbian power forward/center Filip Petrusev, who was drafted with the No. 50 pick by the Sixers in 2021, expressed confidence in Philadelphia’s developmental plan for him. Petrusev, a native Serbian, will suit up for Serbian club Crvena Zvezda during the 2022/23 season.

Latest On Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving

August 5th, 2022 at 10:12am CST by Luke Adams

With no indication that the Nets have made any recent progress on a trade involving Kevin Durant, Ian Begley of SNY.tv says multiple people familiar with those discussions were pessimistic late last month about the odds of a deal getting done anytime soon.

As Begley explains, those sources suggested that teams around the NBA aren’t eager to be the third or fourth team in a trade that sends Durant to another club.

“No one wants to help (Brooklyn get a deal done),” one team told Begley.

While some of Durant’s potential suitors – including the Celtics and Raptors – have the pieces necessary to get a deal done without bringing in a third team, others would be hard-pressed to do so.

The designated rookie extension rule that prevents the Nets from acquiring certain players while Ben Simmons is on their roster further complicate certain straight-up trade scenarios — for instance, even if the Heat are willing to send Bam Adebayo to Brooklyn in a package for Durant, the two teams would likely need to bring in another team to take Simmons.

According to Begley, one source he spoke to near the end of July described the Durant talks as being in a “holding pattern.” It’s unclear if the meeting reported to be taking place between Durant and Nets owner Joe Tsai has occurred yet or if it will help the situation move forward at all.

Meanwhile, there have been no reports as of late indicating that the Nets have been actively pursuing a trade involving Kyrie Irving. According to Begley, a source close to the star point guard said this week that Irving is in a good place with the team and is comfortable remaining in Brooklyn to begin the 2022/23 season.

Pacific Notes: LeBron, Irving, R. Jackson, Kings

August 3rd, 2022 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

With LeBron James eligible to sign an extension starting Thursday, Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register looks at the factors that will go into James’ decision on whether to extend his commitment to the Lakers.

L.A. can sign James to a two-year, $97.1MM extension that would run past his 40th birthday or he can opt for a one-year deal worth $46.7MM. James could also decide to accept less, but Goon doesn’t believe the Lakers are in position to make a significant roster upgrade with any savings that he might provide.

Money will obviously factor into the decision, but James also wants to be part of a title contender, which L.A. may not be able to offer right away. Goon notes that the team could have around $20MM in cap space next summer, which is enough to add a contributor but not nearly enough for another max player.

Family will also affect James’ thought process, as he has children in school and seems committed to the L.A. area. He has expressed a desire to play alongside his son, Bronny, who will be a high school senior this year, which could put pressure on the Lakers to draft him in 2024 if LeBron agrees to a two-year extension.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

The Lakers remain Kyrie Irving‘s “top destination” if and when he leaves the Nets, whether it’s through a trade or free agency next summer, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Buha adds that the league-wide lack of interest in trading for Irving indicates that L.A. might be his only option as a free agent.
Echoing comments he made in March, Clippers guard Reggie Jackson told youths at Paul George‘s basketball camp that he considering retirement during his time with the Pistons, per Tomer Azarly of Clutch Points (video link). “It really started making me question myself (late in his Detroit tenure),” Jackson said. “… Don’t let anybody ever do this to you in life, take the fun out of the things that you love to do. I really was gonna retire. My lifeline, my brother here saved me.”
James Ham of The Kings Beat examines the Kings‘ new-look roster to see if they’ve upgraded enough to break their long playoff drought.

Community Shootaround: Nets’ Future

July 31st, 2022 at 8:52pm CST by JD Shaw

With the futures of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant unclear, the Nets have a number of important decisions to make in the coming weeks and months. Durant requested a trade from the organization just over a month ago, while Irving reportedly hasn’t asked to be dealt since exercising his player option, but neither player is a lock to open the season in Brooklyn.

Durant and Irving — alongside DeAndre Jordan — first joined the Nets during the summer of 2019. The team has had a championship-caliber roster more than once since then, but injuries, availability and chemistry issues have hampered its chances of winning a title.

According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Insider-only), many figures around the league believe it’s virtually impossible to trade Durant. The 33-year-old has four years left on his contract and is a consensus top-five player in the world, making it difficult for rival teams to match Brooklyn’s high asking price. The Nets, according to Lowe, are hopeful Durant realizes this and eventually retracts his trade demand.

If the Nets find a way to trade Durant, the team would likely acquire high-level talent and a significant amount of draft capital. They would still have Irving, Seth Curry, Joe Harris, T.J. Warren, Ben Simmons, Nicolas Claxton and others, unless any of the players are included in the deal, of course.

We want to know what you think. If you were the Nets, what would you do? Would you shop around Durant and Irving with hopes of rebuilding, or would you only look to trade one player? Should Brooklyn consider moving any other players? If Durant retracts his request, are the Nets good enough to win a championship? Take to the comments section below and voice your opinions!

Atlantic Notes: Achiuwa, Irving, Embiid, Sixers

July 30th, 2022 at 10:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Precious Achiuwa could be a strong candidate for Most Improved Player next season, Raptors coach Nick Nurse said in a recent appearance on the Rapcity Keleten-Nyugaton podcast (hat tip to Aaron Rose of All Raptors).

“Wait till this year because every time I see him this summer on the court it’s total focus, total intensity,” Nurse said. “I mean, something happened to him where he now understands what playing in the NBA is about and he is on a mission.”

The 22-year-old center got off to a rough start in his first season with Toronto, but he seemed like a different player after the All-Star break. He averaged 12.2 points per game over the last part of the season and shot 39% from three-point range.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

There may be a thaw in the relationship between Nets management and Kyrie Irving, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Lewis notes that owner Joe Tsai recently retweeted a post praising Irving after the paper reported that he plans to play the upcoming season in Brooklyn. Tsai retweeted another post related to the “NYC Point Gods” documentary that suggested Irving would have excelled in the old era of New York City playgrounds and added the word “truth.” Irving responded with a video of burning sage, which is used by Native Americans to get rid of negative energy.
Thumb and finger surgery prevented Sixers center Joel Embiid from playing for the French national team this summer, per Basket News. Former NBA player Boris Diaw, who serves as general manager for the French team, said Embiid is in the process of being registered as a player for the national team. “His request for naturalization has been accepted,” Diaw said. “We know that he’s still waiting for the French passport. When he obtains it, then he can start the process and apply for a FIBA license for the national team.” Embiid is expected to make his debut with France during the 2023 World Cup.
Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice examines the options for the Sixers‘ fifth starter and compares how the team would look with P.J. Tucker, Danuel House, Matisse Thybulle or De’Anthony Melton in a starting role alongside Embiid, James Harden, Tobias Harris, and Tyrese Maxey.