Just where will the Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving play next season?
The growing unrest in Brooklyn is set to increase now that the star in the center of it all has declined to explain what he’ll do next.
If speculation wasn’t already intense about what’s going to happen in Brooklyn, it’s certainly going to be worse now after one of the players at the center of it all refused to answer questions about his future.
Kyrie Irving adds fuel to the fire
As each day passes it’s becoming increasingly clear that things are going to come to a head between Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets. With a well documented standoff between the franchise and the star point guard now months old, Irving didn’t help to relieve the growing pressure in anyway when he refused to answer questions about his intentions for the future on Sunday night at the BET Awards. Irving actually laughed when asked directly if he “wanted to be a Brookly Net, still?” Irving then declined and simply said, “pass it...pass it to my left.”
If that were the end of it, one could argue that the speculation isn’t worth it, but Irving actually gave a response to the question later that night via Instagram. Indeed, the man in the middle said “While I smile like that, it means there’s more to the story. I’ll have my time to address things.” What can we take from Irving’s seemingly cryptic response? Who’s to say.
What’s the situation with Kyrie Irving exactly?
It goes without saying that should things fall apart in Brooklyn, Irving will have no shortage of suitors. To be clear there are still two days remaining before the Wednesday deadline by which the star point guard has to to either accept or decline his $36.9 million player option. Should Irving decline which now seems quite likely, he’ll become a free agent. It should be said that the chatter regarding where he could go began almost immediately after the Nets were swept by the Celtics, which is to say not all of this is entirely tied to the growing rift between Irving and the team.
Where could Kyrie Irving go?
As for where specifically, several reports earlier this month indicated that the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks would be possible destinations if Irving chose to leave Brooklyn, with each team having its merits. Irving’s former teammate, NBA icon and present Lakers leader LeBron James is known to be pushing for a move for the point guard, while the Knicks would allow him to stay in his home town. As mentioned before the point guard has also given his team a list which aside from the aforementioned three teams, also includes the Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers.
Last but not least there is also another option and while it may seem out of left field, it’s actually one that may yet prove to be the way in which Irving leaves the Nets. As things stand, should Irving decide that his future does in fact lie with another team and more over he doesn’t want to wait for the Nets to orchestrate a sign and trade deal, he could well opt out of his player option and then in turn sign a $6 million midlevel exception with any team as a free agent. Indeed, according to some reports on Monday, it may just be a real possibility as Irving could understandably pick up a long term deal - which he wants - in a year’s time. Given his unpredictable nature all we can do is sit and wait on this one.