Brooklyn Nets rumors: D’Angelo Russell, Kyrie Irving backcourt an option

With still more than a month before the NBA’s free agency frenzy tips off, there are reports that the Brooklyn Nets might consider an All-Star guard pairing.

In an NBA landscape that is more perimeter-oriented than at any time in its history, there are reports the Brooklyn Nets may go all-in on a star-powered backcourt by pairing All-Star D’Angelo Russell with two-time All-NBA selection Kyrie Irving.

Anthony Puccio of SportsNet New York reported there is some interest in the Nets organization in pairing the two combo point guards in a star-powered backcourt that could rival some of the NBA’s other elite tandems at the guard spot.

"SNY also learned recently that the Nets would not shy away from signing Irving even if they re-sign point guard D’Angelo Russell. The ideal scenario would be to pair two max free agents, such as Kevin Durant and Irving, but sources say the Nets would be open to pairing Irving and Russell …"

General manager Sean Marks is going into the offseason with a definitive plan that has lots of moving parts.

"“I think this is something that if the right player is available, obviously like any other team, we’ll target those guys. We’ll see how this builds out. It’s not about fast forwarding or skipping steps. There’s a lot of people that played major roles in getting the team to where it is now — the team, the organization, the identity — for us to even have these conversations. That’s exciting.”"

Irving is expected to decline his $21.33 million option for next season and hit the unrestricted free agency market for the first time in his career as an eight-year veteran. Irving completed the fourth year of the five-year, rookie-scale extension he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014.

A hypothetical Russell-Irving pairing would team up two players who were each in the top 20 in usage rate last season, with Russell sixth in the NBA at 31.9 percent and Irving ranked 16th at 29.6 percent.

But it would also pair two of the top facilitators in the league from last season. Russell was 10th in the NBA at 7.0 assists per game, with Irving one spot behind him at 11th with an average of 6.9 dimes a night.

David Griffin, now the executive vice president of basketball operations with the New Orleans Pelicans and a former GM of the Cavaliers who initially paired Irving with LeBron James, said in February that Irving’s interest in Brooklyn is real.

"“(Brooklyn has a) fit that’s better for him in terms of his mindset. I think he likes what they’ve done there, culturally.”"

Irving was recently named to the All-NBA second team, the highest All-League honor of his career to this point. He was an All-NBA third-team selection in 2014-15 with Cleveland.

Irving would bring another strong 3-point shooter into the fold for the Nets as well. Irving was 19th in the NBA at 40.1 percent from deep this season while averaging 6.5 attempts per game. Russell shot a career-best 36.9 percent this season on 7.8 deep attempts a night.

One of the concerns with Irving is a lengthy and varied injury history, which was detailed here. Irving missed 15 games this season with a variety of ailments and has missed at least 10 games in seven of his eight seasons in the NBA.

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Russell had his most durable season, starting 81 of 82 games — sitting out a late December game at Milwaukee on a short-turnaround back-to-back for rest — and averaging a career-high 30.2 minutes per game while logging a total of 2,448 minutes — almost 200 more than his previous career-high.

Russell has had two of his four NBA seasons shortened by knee injuries, missing 19 games in 2016-17 with the Los Angeles Lakers and 34 games in his first season with the Nets in 2017-18.

It’s hard not to have the feeling Russell will remain with Brooklyn. He’s still doing work at the team’s practice facility well into the Nets’ offseason and that’s not the behavior one might expect from a player who has designs on being with another organization in a month or so.

As for Irving, despite a tumultuous season with the Celtics that included a terrible performance by their star point guard in their second-round loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan reported on the Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective podcast that the Boston wants to keep Irving.

Irving is also being eyed by the New York Knicks, who are looking to make a splash with enough cap space to take on two max contracts, and James has reportedly been in contact with Irving about a reunion with the Los Angeles Lakers.

LeBron has been known to bring “his” guys with him. Dwyane Wade had a short stint with the Cavaliers in 2017-18 after and James Jones played with James in both Cleveland and Miami.

If the players expected to opt out of their existing deals (Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard in particular) do so, this will be one of the most star-studded free agency classes in years, coming at a time when most teams will have some amount of cap space as some of the ridiculous deals from the summer of cash in 2016 begin to come off the books.

The Nets will have options come June 30 — the NBA recently moved back the start of free agency to 6 p.m. Eastern on June 30 from the traditional midnight Eastern on July 1 start — and Marks is looking to advance Brooklyn to the next level without compromising the culture of the organization.

With just a few exceptions, Marks’ moves thus far have been on target, with the team advancing from 60-loss disaster area to 42-win playoff team in just three years. So while fans fill the days leading up to June 30 with fantasy-draft scenarios, the smart money remains on Marks having a clear plan for what’s next.