Kyrie Irving Opts In To Final Year Of Contract
10:30pm: Irving has officially opted in, according to RealGM’s transactions log.
5:50pm: Kyrie Irving has decided to opt in to his contract for 2022/23, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. By exercising the $36.9MM option, Irving is bypassing multiple opt-in-and-trade scenarios in order to fulfill his four-year commitment to the Nets and Kevin Durant, according to Charania (Twitter links).
Irving is entering the final year of his four-year, $136.5MM deal.
“Normal people keep the world going, but those who dare to be different lead us into tomorrow,” Irving said in a statement. “I’ve made my decision to opt in. See you in the fall. A11even.”
By exercising his option, Irving is now both extension- and trade-eligible, though it doesn’t sounds as if either is happening in coordination with the opt-in. The seven-time All-Star will remain extension-eligible up until next June 30 and could tack on up to four years to his expiring deal.
If Irving signs an extension exceeding two years, he would become ineligible to be traded for the next six months; if he’s traded, he would be ineligible to sign an extension longer than two years for the next six months.
Irving’s contract option technically has a base value of about $36.5MM, but the cap hit is $36.9MM due to likely incentives, and it can go as high as $37.7MM if he reaches all his incentives.
The opt-in closes the door on the possibility of Irving of taking a massive pay cut and signing with a new team, such as the Lakers, for the mid-level exception. However, it’s unlikely the drama surrounding Kyrie will end any time soon — since he’s now on track for unrestricted free agency in 2023, he could reemerge as a trade candidate within the next year if he and the Nets don’t agree to an extension.
The Nets, who were reportedly unwilling to offer Irving a long-term contract, have been playing hardball in negotiations with the 30-year-old and essentially threw it in his lap to find a viable sign-and-trade scenario. He was unable to do so, which has led him to exercising the option, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Irving had until 5:00 pm ET on Wednesday to officially make a decision on that option.
Earlier in the day, it was reported that the Lakers were the only team willing to engage in serious sign-and-trade talks with Brooklyn and they lacked attractive pieces to ship back to the Nets in a potential deal.
With Irving’s future up in the air during the last week, multiple reports indicated that Durant was also mulling his options. But with Irving seemingly on track to return to the Nets for next season, Durant presumably won’t be looking for an exit ramp out of Brooklyn.
Windhorst: Nets, Kyrie Irving Engaged In “Grade-A Staredown”
With less than 48 hours remaining for Kyrie Irving to make a decision on his $36.9MM player option for 2022/23, he and the Nets are engaged in a “Grade-A staredown,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during an appearance today on NBA Today (video links).
Since Irving and the Nets reached an impasse in their contract extension talks, there have been rumors suggesting that Kyrie is willing to walk away from the Nets and to potentially take a $30MM+ pay cut for the 2022/23 season by signing with the Lakers using their $6.4MM taxpayer mid-level exception.
However, the Nets haven’t backed down in their negotiations with the seven-time All-Star and are playing hardball themselves, even with Kevin Durant‘s future in Brooklyn potentially tied to Irving’s, according to Windhorst.
“The message that is being sent around the league – and before I say this, this could just be a negotiating position – but the message the Brooklyn Nets are sending is that they are willing to risk losing Kevin Durant if it means (not) going through what they went through last year with Kyrie Irving,” Windhorst said. “They just cannot have him back under the same terms that they had last year. I think they would be willing to welcome him back under different terms, both contractual and an understanding with the organization. But if it costs them both players to avoid a repeat of last year, they are sending the message that they are willing to do that.”
Irving’s decision not to get vaccinated against COVID-19, despite New York City’s vaccine mandate, was a major factor in him suiting up for just 29 of 82 possible regular season games in 2021/22. That mandate wasn’t lifted until late in the regular season and Irving’s inconsistent availability contributed not just to the Nets’ inconsistent play but to James Harden‘s decision to request a trade.
As Windhorst explains, the Nets’ stance in their negotiations with Irving – which has been driven not just by management by but owner Joe Tsai – has sent “ripple effects” across the NBA, as teams around the league consider where Kyrie could end up and what it might take to trade for Durant.
“I have talked to several star players’ agents in the last 24 hours whose teams have come to the star player and said, ‘How do you feel about playing with Kyrie Irving? How do you feel about playing with Kevin Durant?'” Windhorst said. “Teams are preparing for this contingency.”
The Nets are likely willing to take an aggressive stance in their talks with Irving at least in part because most of the teams he would be interested in joining either don’t appear eager to pursue him or would be hard-pressed to find a way to acquire him. The Lakers, Sixers, Heat, Mavericks, Clippers, and Knicks are reportedly on Irving’s wish list, but many of those clubs don’t reciprocate his interest, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Wojnarowski reported earlier today that only the Lakers have legitimate sign-and-trade interest in Irving, and their trade chips don’t appeal to Brooklyn, which is why accepting the $6.4MM taxpayer MLE might be Kyrie’s only viable path to Los Angeles.
If Irving picks up his player option for 2022/23, it would make him easier to trade, but the Nets would also be under no obligation to make a move at that point — the two sides would have all season to potentially negotiate an extension.
“It seems to me that the Nets want Kyrie to opt in because that relieves the pressure a little bit and it buys more time,” Windhorst said. “He can negotiate for a period of time. He doesn’t have to decide on the extension this week. They can try to figure things out — it removes the immediate pressure, and I think that’s probably the best. Because at the end of the day, the Nets don’t want to lose Kevin Durant. The Nets could have a very good team for next year. … They don’t want to blow this up, but they are willing to bring it to the precipice to blow it up to try to get what they want.”
Kyrie Irving Granted Permission To Explore Trade Scenarios
12:17pm: According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report (Twitter link), sources with knowledge of the situation increasingly believe that Irving is willing to decline his player option and sign with the Lakers for the $6.4MM taxpayer mid-level exception.
In that scenario, Fischer writes, Irving could get a raise and a longer-term deal from the Lakers in 2023. The team still doesn’t project to have enough room to offer him a max contract at that point, but could theoretically get close.
Meanwhile, in his full story on the Irving situation, Wojnarowski writes that Durant “remained an advocate” for the Nets to give Kyrie a long-term deal.
11:42am: The Nets and Kyrie Irving haven’t made any real progress toward reaching an agreement that will keep him in Brooklyn going forward, writes Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News.
In fact, according to Winfield, Irving’s camp has requested and received permission from the Nets to speak to other teams about potential trade scenarios. Alex Schiffer of The Athletic and Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter links) have heard the same thing.
Although those reports suggest Irving’s camp is looking into possible “sign-and-trade packages,” many of the teams said to be on the point guard’s wish list wouldn’t have the ability to acquire him via sign-and-trade due to their proximity to the projected luxury tax line.
Sign-and-trade talks also technically aren’t allowed until free agency begins this Thursday evening, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski notes (via Twitter). While teams and agents often play fast and loose with those rules, they may be a little more hesitant to do so this year after two teams were penalized last year for “gun-jumping” violations related to sign-and-trade agreements.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Sign-And-Trades]
Opt-in-and-trade scenarios – in which Irving picks up his $36.9MM player option for 2022/23 – would be more viable for many potential trade partners. Kyrie has until Wednesday to make a final decision on his option, and there’s a sense in both league and player circles that he may have played his last game in Brooklyn, says Winfield.
According to Wojnarowski, however, no teams besides the Lakers are seriously considering the idea of pursuing Irving, and Brooklyn isn’t believed to have interest in any trade package L.A. could realistically offer.
Wojnarowski’s report is similar to what he said during a TV appearance on Friday (hat tip to NetsDaily). At that time, Woj described the talks between the Nets and Irving as “acrimonious,” but suggested that no teams besides the Lakers were thought to have serious interest in the point guard. The other clubs reported to be on Irving’s wish list are the Mavericks, Heat, Clippers, Knicks, and Sixers.
“The interest isn’t mutual in several of these places,” Wojnarowski said on ESPN.
Here are more updates on the Irving situation:
- According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, there are sources close to the situation who “strongly believe” Irving is trying to make his way to the Lakers. Amick, who gets the sense that LeBron James is “very open” to the idea, notes that most people around the NBA believe the Nets would have zero interest in taking on Russell Westbrook in any trade with the Lakers.
- Amick has heard that the Knicks have no interest in Irving and expect him to end up remaining in Brooklyn. Amick describes the Clippers as in “wait-and-see” mode when it comes to Kyrie.
- Even with the threat of Irving’s departure seemingly increasing and Kevin Durant‘s future uncertain, the Nets appear unlikely to relent and offer Kyrie a long-term maximum-salary contract, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said during a Monday appearance on Get Up (video link). “Everything I’ve heard, the max deal is not coming. The Nets are not going to be held hostage by the threat of Kyrie Irving (leaving) and then Kevin Durant following him out the door,” Lowe said. “They appear ready to actually take some kind of stand here. That doesn’t mean that there’s not going to be a fair compromise offer somewhere, wherever that lands.”
- While Lowe did suggest that a compromise between Irving and the Nets is possible, he believes Kyrie’s flight risk is real: “I do think this is a precarious situation for the Nets. I don’t think this is the kind of thing where it’s actually kind of calm and the media is blowing this out of proportion. I do think there are scenarios where in a week he’s gone and the Durant situation is wobbly.”
Malik Monk Open To Considering Discount To Stay With Lakers
After signing him to a minimum-salary contract a year ago, the Lakers will be limited in their ability to offer Malik Monk a raise in free agency this summer, but the shooting guard told Jovan Buha of The Athletic that he’s not closing the door on the idea of accepting a “hometown” discount to stay in Los Angeles.
“Money is always a part, man, but I don’t think it’s the biggest priority in my free agency this year,” Monk said. “It’s me feeling like I’m having a home and I can go out there and do the same things I did this year.
“… They might not be able to pay me as much as I want,” Monk said of the Lakers. “But I could be here and be way more comfortable as a Laker than going to any other team and they’re paying me $5 million more. So it’s just me trying to figure out what team would really want me.”
Monk, who earned approximately $1.79MM as a Laker in 2021/22, enjoyed a career year with his new team after spending four seasons in Charlotte. He established new career highs in PPG (13.8), RPG (3.4), APG (2.9), and FG% (.473) and was arguably L.A.’s most dangerous three-point threat, making 2.3 threes per game at a 39.1% rate.
Because the Lakers only hold his Non-Bird rights, they wouldn’t be able to offer him more than about $2.53MM without dipping in their mid-level exception. Even then, given their cap situation, the Lakers will likely only have the taxpayer MLE ($6.39MM) at their disposal rather than the full version. According to Buha, multiple league sources believe Monk could get $10-12MM per year on the open market.
While Monk “loved” playing for the Lakers, according to his brother Marcus, and is open to the idea of taking a team-friendly deal to stick around, he intends to consider all his options when he becomes a free agent this week.
“I definitely would still want to evaluate things,” Monk told Buha. “You never know what happens. Some other team could come in and hopefully tell me the same thing and maybe I get a little bit more minutes on that team. So it’s just actually me being presented and being able to go out there and do what I do is a priority. That’s the biggest priority: A team that’s just going to let me come in and be myself.”
Path To Buyout Materializing For Rockets’ John Wall
The Rockets may soon have a route for buying out pricey point guard John Wall, Marc Stein writes in his newest Substack report.
Wall picked up his $47.4MM player option for the 2022/23 season last week and the expectation is that the Rockets will once again peruse the trade market in search of a new home for the veteran.
Assuming Houston can’t find a taker for the final year of Wall’s lucrative maximum contract, Stein indicates that there are “serious murmurs” the team and the 6’3″ guard could reach a buyout agreement. How much of his contract Wall is willing to give up in buyout talks could be a sticking point, but according to Stein, a pathway to a buyout appears to be “at last materializing.”
Stein notes that the 31-year-old Wall, a former five-time All-Star with the Wizards, has played in just 72 regular season contests since the 2017/2018 NBA season.
The rebuilding Rockets opted to not play a nominally-healthy Wall as a reserve behind its young starting backcourt of Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr., for a single minute during the 2021/22 season, as the two sides agreed to have him remain away from the team.
As Stein writes, the Clippers and Heat have been floated as possible Wall destinations for a while and presumably would still have interest if he reaches the open market. In a new wrinkle, Stein also reports that another star-studded club, the Lakers, would consider adding Wall if he’s bought out.
Kevin Durant Reportedly Losing Confidence In Nets’ Management
Kevin Durant hasn’t talked to anyone from the Nets in weeks and is losing confidence in the team’s ability to handle the contract standoff with Kyrie Irving, Logan Murdock of The Ringer said on a recent podcast (hat tip to NetsDaily).
There has been growing speculation over the past week that Durant may force his way out if Brooklyn can’t re-sign Irving. Murdock said that decision isn’t inevitable, but warned that concerns about the potential “destruction” of the current roster are legitimate.
“I don’t know if he’s at the stage of leaving but there’s a big uneasiness from not only from the Kyrie side, but the KD side as well,” Murdock said.
Brooklyn was lauded as the NBA’s next super team when Durant, Irving and DeAndre Jordan decided to sign there as free agents in 2019. James Harden was added in a January 2021 deal to form a Big Three, but things haven’t gone as planned. The Nets have captured just one playoff series in that span, Harden is already gone and the other two stars appear to be in danger of leaving as well.
Murdock explained that when Durant chose Brooklyn, he had a vision of competing for titles while playing alongside his friends. Because that hasn’t happened, Durant is beginning to consider his options, especially if Irving doesn’t return.
“His biggest beef is that he feels that the front office didn’t grow to understand Kyrie, whatever that means,” Murdock said. “I would push back on that when a guy leaves for two weeks at a time … Kyrie earns the lion’s share of the blame. But I think KD believes that ‘hey, you guys didn’t understand this guy. You didn’t try to figure out where he was coming from.’”
Durant is also unhappy about the Nets’ reported parting with Adam Harrington as an assistant coach and director of development. Harrington was Durant’s shooting coach with the Thunder and is a longtime friend.
Murdock adds that Durant chose not to be involved in the Nets’ free agent recruiting process this year after having been active on that front in past offseasons.
Tomas Satoransky Signs With FC Barcelona
Tomas Satoransky, who spent time with three NBA teams this season, has signed a four-year contract with FC Barcelona, according to Aris Barkas of EuroHoops.
Satoransky played two years with the Spanish club before leaving for the NBA in 2016. Barkas adds that there was also interest from Anadolu Efes, the back-to-back EuroLeague champs.
The 30-year-old guard was selected by the Wizards with the 32nd pick in the 2012 draft. He played three seasons with the team after leaving Europe and was sent to the Bulls in a sign-and-trade in the summer of 2019. Chicago shipped him to the Pelicans last summer as part of the package for Lonzo Ball, and he was traded to Spurs at this year’s deadline but appeared in just one game before being waived. He returned to the Wizards at the end of February.
The Czech native played 388 games over six NBA seasons, averaging 6.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists.
FC Barcelona is traditionally one of the top teams in the EuroLeague, but lost to Real Madrid this year in both the Final Four semifinals and ACB finals. According to Barkas, Satoransky is expected to be joined by another former Wizard, Jan Vesely, whom Washington selected with the sixth pick in the 2011 draft.
Thunder Expect To Pick Up Luguentz Dort’s Option For 2022/23
The Thunder are planning to exercise Luguentz Dort‘s team option for next season, tweets Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. Dort is set to make $1,930,681 in the final season of a four-year deal he signed as a rookie.
Oklahoma City has until June 29 to reach a decision on Dort’s option, but general manager Sam Presti told Mussatto that all signs point to picking it up.
“Obviously it’s our plan to exercise that pending anything different,” Presti said.
Dort put up career-best numbers this season with 17.2 PPG and 4.2 RPG in 51 games, but his season was cut short by a shoulder injury in mid-February.
While Dort is obviously a major bargain on a $1.93MM salary, there was some question about whether or not the Thunder would pick up his option due to his contract situation. He could become a restricted free agent if the team declined that option, whereas if his option is picked up, he’ll be eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2023.
Dort would become trade-eligible if his option is exercised. There were multiple reports before the draft that the Trail Blazers had interest in acquiring the 24-year-old swingman.
Will Hardy A Leading Candidate For Jazz Coaching Job
The Jazz view Celtics assistant Will Hardy as a leading candidate for the team’s vacant head coaching job, according to Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake City Tribune. Larsen notes that Utah’s decision-makers reportedly favor a young candidate to replace Quin Snyder.
Snyder left the Jazz earlier this month after an eight-year stint. Utah has interviewed roughly 15 candidates for the position, searching for the right replacement to guide the team back into contention.
Hardy started his NBA career with the Spurs as a video intern in 2010. He was the team’s video coordinator from 2013 to 2015, then became an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich. He was hired by the Celtics when former Spurs assistant Ime Udoka took that head coaching job last year.
In addition to Hardy, the Jazz are also strongly considering Suns assistant Kevin Young, according to Larsen. The 40-year-old was an assistant coach with the Sixers from 2017-20, then was hired by current Suns head coach Monty Williams. Before that, he served as an assistant at Utah Valley University and coached in the G League.
Marc Stein previously identified Hardy and Young as two candidates who impressed the Jazz during the first round of interviews.
Blazers Guarantee Josh Hart’s 2022/23 Salary
As expected, the Trail Blazers have decided to fully guarantee Josh Hart‘s salary for the 2022/23 season, according to Aaron J. Fentress of OregonLive.com (Twitter link). Hart will now make $12.9MM next year.
The deadline to guarantee his salary was today. Portland could still dangle Hart in a trade, as the team reportedly pursued Raptors forward OG Anunoby in trade talks leading up to the draft.
Hart appeared in 13 games last season after being traded from the Pelicans to Blazers, averaging 19.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per contest on 50% shooting. While those stellar numbers are above the norm for him, the 26-year-old still put up a solid 14.9 PPG, 7.2 RPG and 4.1 APG in 41 games with New Orleans before getting traded.
Hart is a prime candidate to start at small forward unless the Blazers make a move. Portland agreed to trade for Jerami Grant this week, adding him to a core that already includes Damian Lillard and restricted free agent Anfernee Simons. Starting center Jusuf Nurkic will enter unrestricted free agency next week.