Brooklyn Nets: Kyrie Irving an intriguing free agency wild card

With a report that free-agent-to-be Kyrie Irving favors the Brooklyn Nets among the Gotham destinations, an interesting July gains some potential intrigue.

Much of the initial focus on what promises to be an active July free agency period for the Brooklyn Nets has been on All-Star D’Angelo Russell‘s status and which star frontcourt players can be added to the mix as the Nets look to kick their rebuild to the next stage.

Brooklyn defied expectations and bounced back from a slow start to nab an unexpected playoff berth this season before flaming out in the first round with four straight losses after a Game 1 road victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

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Russell was a big piece of the puzzle for the Nets’ ascent as he stepped into the void left by Caris LeVert‘s season-altering injury in November to post career highs in scoring and assists en route to earning his first All-Star nod as an injury replacement after being bypassed in the initial selections.

The free agency focus has also been on the galaxy of stars expected to be available at the forward position, where former MVP Kevin Durant, former Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and smooth scoring Tobias Harris headline the likely-to-be-available options.

Adding a point guard in free agency hasn’t been as hot a topic.

The Nets didn’t commit to an extension of Russell’s rookie deal and will have to make a decision on whether to tender a qualifying offer to make Russell a restricted free agent or renouncing his rights to free up the $21.06 million cap hold to retain Russell’s Bird rights.

Brooklyn made a move for the future at the point guard spot in December when they re-signed Spencer Dinwiddie to a three-year, $34.3 million extension that includes a player option for $12.3 million in 2021-22.

But Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News reported that Irving, who has backed away from his October declaration he would return to the Boston Celtics, favors the Nets over the New York Knicks as a potential landing spot.

The Celtics won Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series with the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, but gave homecourt advantage back to the Bucks with a 123-116 loss at home in Game 3 Friday night after being blown out in Milwaukee in Game 2.

The deeper Boston advances, so the theory goes, the less likely it is that Irving would opt to leave the Celtics. But a loss to the Bucks in the second round could be enough to push Irving to a new destination.

One Las Vegas book likes New York’s chances of landing Durant and another star, with the SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas installing 16-1 odds on the Knicks winning a championship in 2019-20 despite finishing an NBA-worst 17-65 this season, per ESPN.com.

The director for the NBA odds at the SuperBook, Jeff Sherman, told the network that the Knicks would be somewhere around 300-1 if they can’t land a star or two in free agency. The Knicks have the cap space, with the ability to create nearly $71.3 million under the projected 2019-20 cap, per Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights.

That would be the most available cap room in the NBA. Brooklyn can create up to $50.5 million, but that would involve renouncing rights to Russell and the rest of its free agents along with declining the options on Shabazz Napier and Treveon Graham for next season.

Bondy’s report indicates Durant’s interest in the Knicks would be predicated on another superstar-caliber player joining him in Manhattan — Durant apparently doesn’t want to star in a sequel to Carmelo Anthony‘s stay with the Knicks — and much of the speculation on that second star has centered on Irving.

But Bondy thinks that idea may come with some wrinkles, including the notion that a deep playoff run will be enough for the Celtics to keep Irving.

"Then again, Irving demanded a trade out of Cleveland following three consecutive trips to the Finals. So we’ll see. Some plugged into the NBA claim Irving will strongly consider Brooklyn as a free-agent destination, with one source saying the 27-year-old prefers the Nets to the Knicks."

Irving would be an intriguing option in free agency. At 27, he would be one of the youngest, yet most accomplished, veterans on the market, with an NBA title, a Rookie of the Year award, an All-NBA selection and six All-Star appearances on his resume.

Even with Russell’s improvement at the defensive end this season, Irving would represent a significant upgrade and he’s one of the premier offensive talents at the point in the NBA, averaging 23.8 points per game on 48.7 percent overall shooting while knocking down a solid 40.1 percent on 6.5 3-point attempts a night.

Irving is also a career 87.5 percent free throw shooter — how many games did the Nets cost themselves with poor foul shooting? — and averaged a career-high 6.9 assists per game this season.

A red flag with Irving is durability. He’s never played more than 75 games in a season and has missed at least 10 games in seven of his eight NBA campaigns, including 15 games with a variety of maladies this season. He played in just one of the four matchups with Brooklyn this season.

Irving does not, however, provide any answers for Brooklyn’s defensive rebounding or stretch 4 questions.

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Still, it’s a star-driven league and having Irving would definitely add one of those to Brooklyn’s mix.

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