In what it was like a clash between Kyrie Irving and the Nets, his employer won. Because Brooklyn did not want to give him a long-term maximum deal and Irving could not get one elsewhere, he settled and chose the last year of his contract.
The Nets avoided the nuclear option of Irving leaving and potentially triggering Kevin Durant to do the same. But the fact that the team has not been dragged over the rock does not mean that it is not yet on the abyss.
Although both Irving and Durant are under contract – Irving for the upcoming season at a price of 36.5 million dollars, Durant begins a four-year extension – there is a question: Are they unhappy? Because Brooklyn learned the hard way what Boston already knew: Unhappy Irving is dangerous Irving.
“I feel bad for these guys out there that I have to deal with him,” a league source told The Post.
Irving can still leave next summer or sign an extension at any time or even leave through trading. Will the Nets really stand firm against Irving, leave for the first time, annoyed or punished?
Kyrie Irving chose $ 36.5 million to stay at the Nets next season. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
From the time Irving arrived, Brooklyn agreed to every previous request, from signing DeAndre Jordan to his personal leave to making a four-year deal worth $ 181 million, until he refused to be vaccinated. And after they told Irving he couldn’t be a part-time player, they even capitulated.
“I’m not sure I would have managed that way,” another league source told The Post. “In principle, they told him they did not believe him. Which I understand: He is not trustworthy. But to tell him he can’t be a part-time player, I’ll do it [anger him]. I wouldn’t sign anyone who wants to, but I would just sign [praise him] publicly. He needs that. ”
If it looks like the Nets don’t trust him, well, the look isn’t deceptive. After watching him miss 130 games (including playoffs and playoffs), GM Sean Marx and owner Joe Tsai refused to give him the full maximum extension he was looking for.
Brooklyn’s agent / stepmother and Irving Shetellia Riley Irving exchanged suggestions, including the type of language previously described in The Post: a four-year deal with the last two caused by games played in the first two seasons, and a two-year extension with incentives based on of games played. According to The Athletic, Irving’s camp gave a short-term counter-offer, which the Nets rejected.
Irving threatened to throw in vain, using the ghost of Durant demanding a deal if he did. But after the Nets called his bluff and gave him permission to look for a sign and trade, Irving found his market cool at best.
Kyrie Irving drives to the basket.AP
In the end, Irving chose, instead of cutting his $ 30 million salary, to reunite with LeBron James in LA. Instead, he reunited with Durant in Brooklyn.
For now.
With Irving under contract, the Nets can still move him. This will not require signing and trading, which would hardly prevent any team from receiving it.
The problem is that there is little demand for Irving and moving him to role players would be counterintuitive. Although Durant never told Brooklyn that he would ask if Irving was leaving, it would be unwise to oppose him at this point. Durant still needs to have substantial talks with Marx and Tsai about how to build this team in the future.
The unfortunate Irving may be counterproductive to this end.
He can agree to an extension at any time between now and June 30, 2023, they will just have to wait until July 6 to sign it.
All-Star posted a video Tuesday from North Dakota, his first comments since joining.
“It’s a great moment in my spiritual journey to be present enough to know that I’m not doing all this. At this point, I’m pushed in certain directions, “Irving said, adding:” You can’t be afraid to make mistakes, in private or outdoors. You have to learn from the mistakes you make. ”
He didn’t know what mistakes he had made. But one thing he has learned is that he will have to win the maximum contract he wants – whether in Brooklyn or elsewhere.
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