The Brooklyn Nets‘ offseason soap opera served up a twist to kick off this week, with the team reportedly deciding to keep one of the big-name players at the forefront of trade rumors this offseason.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania , the Nets are now supposedly telling interested teams that Kyrie Irving is staying in Brooklyn and will play for the team next season after “working out with teammates and holding constructive dialogue with the organization.”
This is certainly an interesting turn of events given the organization’s opinion of Irving at the start of the offseason.
“We’re looking for guys that want to come in here and be part of something bigger than themselves, play selfless, play team basketball and be available,” general manager Sean Marks said back in May after Irving spent the bulk of the season refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 so he could play with the team.
Perhaps Irving took that message to heart and really has put in the work to get back into Brooklyn’s good graces. Maybe the situation with Kevin Durant has gotten so out of hand that keeping Irving is just the lesser of two evils. Whatever the reason, it will certainly be intriguing to see where the Nets-Irving relationship goes from here.
Irving is in the final season of a four-year contract and becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer.
