The situation regarding Kyrie Irving and his future is one of the biggest enigmas in the NBA. For the moment, the seven-time All-Star is again filling the headlines, with the main topic being his next destination.
Apparently, the management of his current team, the Brooklyn Nets, isn’t too satisfied with Uncle Drew and his contribution. Furthermore, following all the negative publicity Irving drew upon himself and the team, some strong voices suggest that the former champion might leave the franchise from Barclays Center.
Irving has a $36.3 million player option for the upcoming season, or the ability to negotiate a new extension. There aren’t any speculations that he wants a max-contract like James Harden, which opens a lot of space for the interests.
With Kyrie Irving potentially wanting out of Brooklyn here are the odds of where he’ll play next year. 🤔
Nets: +100
Lakers: +250
Clippers: +300
Knicks: +500 pic.twitter.com/ttakvUTFHA— ClutchPoints Betting (@CPBetting) June 20, 2022
Three teams emerged as the biggest favorites to land Uncle Drew if he decides to leave Brooklyn – LA Lakers, New York Knicks and the LA Clippers.
The LA Lakers are +250 to land Kyrie before the next season begins, the Knicks are +600, and the Clippers are at +900. Of course, Brooklyn has the biggest chance of having him for the 2022/23 campaign, and that outcome is priced at -200.
The Lakers and LeBron would really be the most logical move of all. The two won the title together and have a very good relationship. Their chemistry was developed throughout four years spent together in Ohio, and throughout that time, the Cavs won their only title, coming back from a 1-3 deficit in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
Just to remind you that Irving scored a clutch three in Game 7 at the Oracle Arena.
The LAL has enough assets for the possible trade, with Russell Westbrook being on the exit door, and with a lot of other players in the trade block. Nets aren’t interested in having Westbrook, despite his history with Durant, and the third team would probably have to jump in this deal.
What are the odds we see a Kyrie and Russ trade this off-season? 👀 pic.twitter.com/Poi1MUqOSH
— SGG Media (@SGG_hq) June 20, 2022
New York Knicks (+500) are desperate to gain some consistency, and after the playoffs from 2021, they had a slump this year, not even reaching the postseason. The Knicks are always in the talks when there is some superstar on the market, only this time, they are determined to put their hands on Irving, per sources.
Fournier, Burks, and Kemba Walker are all available for trade, and they would be a solid addition to the Nets roster, making their backcourt one of the deepest in the NBA. It would also solve the problem of three-point shooting, which bothered Brooklyn in the second part of the year.
And finally, the Clippers. LAC (+300) has had a terrible year regarding the injuries, with Kawhi out through the entire year, while on the other side, Paul George missed a big part of the campaign as well. They have enough players to be sent to Brooklyn – Powell, Kennard and Reggie Jackson, and all of them are perfectly suiting the Nets’ needs.
The Kyrie soap opera will be one of the central topics this summer, and it seems that the fantastic playmaker likes to be at the center of attention. Only, unlike a few years ago, this time, the context is negative.
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
Twitter:
Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
Leave a Reply