All eyes are on the Brooklyn Nets, as they are expected to trade Kyrie Irving at some point.
With Irving not allowed to practice or play for the Nets due to his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine and because of New York’s mandated guidelines that require all athletes to have it, the Nets have no other choice but to trade him since they aren’t going to extend his contract and will not let him play.
Kyrie has since said that he isn’t looking to retire, which leads everyone to believe that he too, wants to be traded. It wouldn’t be the first time Irving has done this, as he forced his way out of Cleveland and got the Cavaliers to trade him to the Boston Celtics in 2017.
24 hours ago, we had suggested that the Nets and the Portland Trail Blazers make a trade to swap Irving for Damian Lillard.
Now, here’s another trade to make for the Nets, only this time, it’s with the Dallas Mavericks, which Nick Wright of Fox Sports 1 suggested.
Texas, like Oregon, doesn’t have the vaccine mandates, so if Kyrie wants to remain without the vaccine and still play, he can do so. Again, he’d have to miss any games in New York or California, but that is better than being out former-plus games like he would be with the Nets.
The Nets wouldn’t be as strong with Porzingis as they are with Kyrie or if they made the deal for Lillard, as Porzingis would be the third best player behind Kevin Durant and James Harden. Although he does average a little over 20 points and nine rebounds per game, so it’s not like he’s a useless player.
The problem with trading for Porzingis, which they dealt with in Irving, was health, as he missed 39 games last season due to injuries.
Irving played in just 54 games, but averaged 26.9 points, 6.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds for the Nets, as he is an elite player and would help any team out.
Pairing him with Luka Doncic would create for an electric backcourt and Doncic would probably work better with Irving as opposed to Porzingis, whom the two had friction in Dallas.
With Opening Night of the NBA coming up next week, the Nets should be motivated to make a deal sooner than later to get Irving out of Brooklyn and players who aren’t putting personal needs before the team and winning.
