Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving has reportedly requested a trade, but we may not see a typical market in pursuit of the All-Star starter.
Irving would probably improve nearly every backcourt in the league. But despite all of his talent on the court, don’t expect many teams to jump at the opportunity to surrender much in order to acquire the one-time NBA champion.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, there is a “reluctance” to make “significant offers of assets” in order to land the All-Star guard. He also added that the Nets aren’t going to get “overwhelming offers” and they likely won’t get “a haul” in exchange for Irving. He thinks that there will only be a “small” marketplace.
Reporting with @espn_macmahon: The Mavericks have had previous interest on Kyrie Irving and are expected to explore idea with Nets ahead of Thursday's trade deadline. Like most teams, the Mavericks have had had a reluctance to make significant offers of assets for Irving.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 3, 2023
There are several reasons why the Nets might not fetch much back in a trade for Irving. Not only will the 30-year-old Brooklyn guard become a free agent this offseason, but additionally, he has not proven himself to be reliable.
Irving, who refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and promoted antisemitic books and movies on his social media accounts, isn’t going to make a front office jump at the opportunity to trade for him and offer him a lucrative contract extension. Per Woj:
“No teams are privately expressing a desire to make that investment into Irving, especially after the turbulence of an eight-game suspension for failing to initially rebuke an antisemitic film shared to his social media platform.”
Additionally, due to the fact that Irving becomes a free agent this offseason, if any team did actually have interest, they could potentially just sign him outright rather than give up an asset at the deadline.
Since he will be a free agent this summer Kyrie can steer his landing spot to a degree by telling non-preferred teams he won't stay if they trade for him. Don't see teams giving up much for half a season of Kyrie, particularly if he doesn't want to be there
— Trevor Lane (@Trevor_Lane) February 3, 2023
Back in June 2022, when he sought a sign-and-trade during free agency but ultimately just instead signed a one-year deal with the Nets, there were “no known teams” outside the Lakers who were interested in a sign-and-trade for Irving.
If there was an interest in him from any other team in the league, the Nets would have blown it up when they had the chance and he would already be there.
That was when the pursuing team could have at least had a full season with Irving. Now, any team that trades for Irving will only have him on the books until the season is over.
Brian Windhorst: "The Lakers position from what I understand is that: They've been interested in trading for Kyrie Irving, but they're not so sure about trading for him and being obligated to give him a $200M contract at season's end." pic.twitter.com/DZFFtGE79I
— hoops bot (@hoops_bot) February 3, 2023
During the offseason, the Lakers had the most reported interest in Irving.
Now, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, even Los Angeles is “not so sure” about trading for him:
“The Lakers’ position, from what I understand, is that they’ve been interested in trading for Kyrie Irving but they’re not so sure about trading for him and being obligated to giving him a $200 million contract at season’s end. If they could get Kyrie Irving for basically next to nothing, expiring contracts, that would be something they would entertain. But the Nets were not willing to entertain that.”
Further, per Woj, both the Lakers and the Mavericks are “privately expressing limitations” on what they offer for Irving.
If the Lakers offer their 2027 and 2029 1sts unprotected, I think the Nets take that deal and run.
They clearly don't want to be in business with Kyrie anymore.
The problem then becomes the money. Russ makes 10M more than Kyrie, so it may have to be a complicated 3-team deal.
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) February 3, 2023
Rob Pelinka and the Lakers would take Irving for pennies on the dollar, especially if it means moving on from the Russell Westbrook era. But is he worth giving up their future first-round picks when it’s unclear how long he will be around with the team?
That offer might actually be far more than any other front office would be willing to give. Even though Los Angeles isn’t rich in assets, they could potentially outbid everyone if they seriously want to appease LeBron James.
The Nets don’t have to trade Irving. He can sit out the remainder of the season or he can take a break and come back to the team if and when he is ready.
Either way, the market has likely dried up for Irving and it may not require many assets to land the All-Star guard in a trade before the deadline.
