Nets Still Have Time To Clear Irving “Impasse”
Hey, I was only joking when in my last Nets post (Nets Most Pressing Offseason Questions…And Guesses (substack.com)) I asked whether anyone would be surprised if Nets superstar guard Kyrie Irving decided he wanted to join the Oklahoma City Thunder in two weeks as a free agent so he could live on a Native American reservation.
It was meant to highlight Irving’s, um, mercurial nature, to put it kindly. It requires someone with the codebreaking ability of Princeton Nobel Prize winner John Nash (no relation to the Nets Head Coach Steve Nash) to decipher the thoughts inside Irving’s beautiful mind.
Instead, we have the reporting from The Athletic’s Shams Charania, who seems to be clued in to people in Irving’s camp—i.e. certain family members. On Monday, Charania shook up the basketball world when he reported that conversations about Irving’s future have gone stagnant between him and the Nets. Charania wrote that the two sides are at “an impasse.”
From my perspective, Charania, a fantastic reporter, too often is willing to advance Irving’s agenda knowing full well that any news related to him generates massive clicks. During the “will-he-or-won’t-he” period regarding Irving’s refusal to get injected with the COVID-19 vaccine, Charania was used in an attempt to rehabilitate Irving’s image, claiming early on that Irving wasn’t an anti-vaxxer and furthering the laughable “voice of the voiceless” narrative. Yeah, right.
Now we have an impasse? On June 20? Perhaps the negotiations have stalled but is Charania so sure that neither side will budge as the calendar ticks closer to the July 1 kickoff to free agency? What’s the sticking point? Even if owner Joe Tsai has ordered budget cuts after spending the second most money this season for zero playoff wins, I would be flabbergasted if the Nets weren’t offering Irving max money for the 2022-23 season. They have to know someone else will (Charania mentioned the Lakers, Clippers, and Knicks among the teams who might have interest). No team will start the free agency period with the requisite salary cap space to take on Irving’s ask, but about a half dozen can get there with maneuverings, including the Knicks.
Could it be term, with Irving looking to match buddy Kevin Durant’s four-year extension while the Nets won’t commit to him for that long? Can’t blame Brooklyn, as Irving’s availability, due to either injuries or his mindset, has been an issue in each of his three seasons here. It probably wasn’t a coincidence that Nets General Manager Sean Marks emphasized availability in a general sense during his end-of-season press conference last month.
Or maybe Marks is trying to stick Irving with the maximum 15% of his compensation in games played incentives—since Irving only suited up for 29 games this season because of his vaccine obstinance, even a low 30-game hurdle would be deemed “an unlikely incentive.”
Charania didn’t get intel on those details, which kind of leaves a gaping hole in the story. Irving has stated publicly that he wants to remain in Brooklyn, which is close to his New Jersey roots where he grew up a Nets fan. Unfortunately, Irving is known to waver on such stances—just ask the Celtics. Obviously, if the two parties can’t agree by July 1, Irving, who can always exercise his $36.9 million player option for the final year of the original 4-year, $136.5 million deal he signed in 2019, will be free to check in on other offers.
Until then, though, it is too soon for Nets fans to panic (or, for those who have grown tired of Irving’s antics, cheer). The bottom line is that the franchise isn’t in a position where it can withstand the loss of a superstar and still be competitively relevant. You’re not replacing him with anyone close to that caliber, even in a sign-and-trade or opt-in-and-extend-and-trade. The Nets would still be over the salary cap even if Irving walked out the door for nothing, leaving them with only their trade, mid-level, and veteran minimum exceptions to make improvements.
Playing it out further, the Nets would have to worry about how KD feels about the Kyrie-less direction. As we’ve seen so often in this age of player empowerment, a signed contract means nothing to a superstar looking to move on to a new destination. How long will it be before Durant realizes this isn’t the environment he thought he was settling into when he signed that extension last summer, that the team’s second-best player is Ben Simmons, who has become physically and mentally unreliable?
You know, like Kyrie Irving, only not as good.