Reports: Kyrie Irving asks Brooklyn Nets for a trade before the NBA trade deadline
Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets reacts after a basket during the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers at Barclays Center on Monday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
It appears that Kyrie Irving wants out of Brooklyn.
Irving has asked the Nets to trade him by Thursday’s NBA deadline, according to multiple reports. And if they don’t, he has told them he will walk when he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Irving had previously requested a sign-and-trade scenario ahead of this season before deciding to opt into the final year of his four-year maximum contract.
Since then, his stock around the league has risen. The 30-year-old is averaging 27.1 points, 5.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds this season and last month was voted into his eighth All-Star Game.
The Nets declined to comment on reports of the trade Friday.
According to The Athletic, the Nets recently offered Irving a contract extension with guarantee stipulations. The offer was declined.
The Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers have all been reported as possible trade destinations for Irving. Joining former Cleveland teammate LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the Lakers has long been an interest of Irving’s and this should reignite the Russell Westbrook-for-Irving talk, which was so prevalent last summer.
Irving’s trade request comes three months after the Nets suspended him for eight games for linking to an antisemitic film on his social media accounts and then initially refusing to take responsibility for it. It also comes on the heels of a season in which Irving was mostly a part-time player after refusing get the COVID-19 vaccine that was required to clear him to play in Brooklyn.
The timing of the request had to be painful for Nets fans given that the team has been playing well this season under coach Jacque Vaughn, who replaced Steve Nash. Before Kevin Durant injured his ankle Jan. 8 in Miami, the Nets won 17 of 19 games and were in second place in the Eastern Conference, just a game behind Miami.
Despite suffering a 139-96 loss in Boston on Wednesday night, the Nets have kept their head above water while Durant is on the mend and Irving’s fourth-quarter heroics have been a major reason why. The Nets (31-20 overall, but 4-7 while Durant has been out with the knee injury) are in fourth place in the East heading into Saturday’s game against the Washington Wizards at Barclays Center.
Durant recently said on his podcast that he would like to return “a few games before” the All-Star break, which is scheduled for Feb. 17-19, and the team is expected to get a report on his progress early next week.
Irving is the third superstar to request a trade from the Nets in a little more than a year. Before last season’s trade deadline, James Harden asked out and was sent to Philadelphia. Kevin Durant asked to be traded last summer, though the trade never materialized.
Despite the Nets failure to trade him, Durant has been nothing but professional and was playing at a near MVP level before he injured his knee. He and Irving were playing well together this year under Vaughn and may have had a chance to go deep in the playoffs.
Yet, how deep can the Nets go if Irving stays? Given that he has been a distraction before, going through the rest of the season with an unhappy Irving might not be the best plan for the Nets. Irving made it clear in a post he made on Twitter Friday that he wasn’t feeling appreciated.
“To my Peers: JUST BE YOURSelf and GROW! Keep people around who CELEBRATE YOU unconditionally and appreciates all of the hard work that gets put in,” Irving wrote. “Distance yourself from the folks who manipulate, hate, and hurt.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
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