Kyrie Irving has left yet another franchise in dramatic fashion as he demanded a trade a couple days ago from the Brooklyn Nets. It was merely in January of this year that Irving stated the Nets locker room had nobody that was halfway out the door, claiming everybody was 100% bought into the team.
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However, with Kevin Durant on the mend with his MCL sprain and Sean Marks refusing to sign Irving to a 4-year contract extension, the former Cavalier wanted out. It was stated that the contract extension came with stipulations, one of them being tied to winning a championship this season.
The two biggest teams to have their names firmly placed within the Kyrie sweepstakes were the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers. The latter gained a ton of steam with LeBron James hinting towards wanting his former teammate both on Twitter and by calling ‘wanting Kyrie’ a ‘duh’ question.
LeBron James contemplates over Kyrie Irving trade to Mavs
The package that was floating around when it came to getting Kyrie Irving to the Los Angeles Lakers was one that included Russell Westbrook, Lonnie Walker IV, and their two first round picks. Well, it seems as though this was not enough as the Mavericks have swooped in and traded for Irving instead.
The Mavs included Spencer Dinwiddie (a former Net himself), Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2027 and 2029 SRP and an unprotected 2029 FRP. A couple hours after Shams and Woj broke the news surrounding this trade, LeBron James took to Twitter say 3 words:
Maybe It’s Me
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 6, 2023
If questioned about this tweet, ‘The King’ will surely state that his tweet was unrelated to the Kyrie Irving debacle but it’s quite clear that he wanted him and Rob Pelinka could not get a deal done.
Teams are preparing for a Kevin Durant trade request
With the Kyrie Irving drama having settled down now, now that he’s a Dallas Maverick, teams are turning their heads towards the bigger fish: Kevin Durant. Many teams around the league began questioning the Nets about his availability even when Irving was available.
The Phoenix Suns are currently prepared to offer up a package for KD should he become available for trade. They were a team that Durant had on his list of preferred destinations when he first asked out this past offseason so a strong offer from the Suns could perhaps lead to the ‘Slim Reaper’ asking out as well.
