2. New York Knicks

It would be a strange outcome for Kyrie Irving to move across New York to play for the Knicks after previously spurning them in favor of signing with the Brooklyn Nets. Playing through the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot of strange things, however.

If Irving were to decide that he wants to remain in New York but just doesn’t want to be part of the Nets, the Knicks could be an intriguing choice for him. They still need a long-term answer at point guard after the Kemba Walker experience was a poor one.

With the focus of the Knicks’ team building efforts being RJ Barrett going forward, pairing up a talent like Irving would be quite an intriguing way to take pressure off him and to boost the half-court offense as a whole.

Julius Randle could become expendable in such a situation since there’d be a top option for the Knicks to feature and would no longer need to wait for things to turn round with him.

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None of these ideas would matter if the New York City vaccine mandate situation is not resolved, but again, there’s little reason to envision that being a factor beyond this season at the latest.