The Brooklyn Nets are reportedly prepared to let Kyrie Irving and even Kevin Durant walk during this offseason with things seemingly escalating in that situation. Irving suggested that there is more than meets the eye happening behind the scenes as he talked about how he will address the current situation when the time is right.
In any case, with it looking less and less likely that the star guard stays with the Nets, questions about where he will go continue to come up. The Lakers have been mentioned as the team with the most significant interest, but Adrian Wojnarowski suggested that the Nets wouldn’t be interested in the packages that the LA team has to offer.
If that is the case, Irving leaving the Nets could also happen if he refuses to pick up his player option for next season and become a free agent. But if he does so to join the Lakers, then the only way that would work is if he accepted the mid-level exception worth $6 million that the team can offer him as a free agent. And Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report suggested that this is a possibility.
Sources with knowledge of the situation have increasingly believed Kyrie Irving's willingness to opt out of Brooklyn, sign the $6M taxpayer midlevel with the Lakers, where Irving can re-sign long-term in 2023.
More on @getcallin with @BigWos at 7:30ET: https://t.co/Qyn7Obfi2P
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) June 27, 2022
“Sources with knowledge of the situation have increasingly believed Kyrie Irving’s willingness to opt out of Brooklyn, sign the $6M taxpayer midlevel with the Lakers, where Irving can re-sign long-term in 2023.”
This would mean that Irving would leave $30 million on the table that he could secure simply by picking up his player option with the Nets. Suggestions that he is willing to take a step this drastic could mean that the situation between him and the organization he is currently with is much worse than initially imagined.
For the Lakers, this would be a huge deal, as it would get them a superstar for dirt cheap. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving have won a title together before and if Anthony Davis is healthy and Irving stays on the court, then this could be just the boost the franchise needs to get back to the NBA Finals.
