After a tumultuous season, Kyrie Irving could part ways with the Brooklyn Nets. Contract talks with the franchise reportedly have stalled, and the uncertainty around his future sparked rumors of a potential departure of Kevin Durant as well.
On Thursday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that Irving has a list of teams he would like to join in case he fails to reach an agreement with the Nets.āIf Kyrie Irving canāt reach an agreement to stay with Brooklyn, he has a list of teams heād like them to consider on sign-and-trades, including Lakers, Clippers, Knicks, Heat, Mavs and 76ers,āWoj tweeted.
However, he warned that none of those teams have enough cap space to land him right now. On top of that, Woj said that only the Los Angeles Lakers would be seriously interested in Irving.
NBA Trade Rumors: Lakers are the only team where Kyrie Irving would be seen as priority
āI think the one team with the most interest in Kyrie Irving are the Lakers. Thereās really not a sign-and-trade scenario with Brooklyn that makes sense,ā Woj said on Get Up!,via Fadeaway World. āOf course, if the Lakers want to offer Anthony Davis in a sign-and-trade, the Nets will do that, but thatās not going to happen. And so if youāre Kyrie Irving, you wait to get to the Lakers, opt-out of your contract next week and sign a $6 million exemption that the Lakers will have available. The difference with that and the Nets and his opt-in with the Nets is $30 millionā¦
āThat list, in terms of teams like Dallas, Philadelphia, the Clippers, I donāt think thereās interest there. The Knicks, they have some priorities well ahead of Kyrie Irving, Jalen Brunson. For Dallas, they are trying to clear cap space to sign a free agent thatās not Kyrie Irving right now.ā
While Irvingās talent is undeniable, someteams may prefer not to gamble on him after a controversial season. But the Lakers come from such a terrible year thatthey would rather see the bright side of having a player of his caliber.
