Kyrie Irving

If the Brooklyn Nets trade Kyrie Irving this summer, it’ll have very little to do with basketball. Of course, compared to most NBA players, Irving himself has little to do with the sport.

Off-court interests have kept Kyrie Irving away from basketball far too often of late. In 2021-22, his refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine meant he was often unavailable. Some would argue it drove James Harden out of town.

We’ll leave politics aside here. We don’t care to commend the validity of vaccination mandates. It’s fair to say that NBA teams prefer players who, you know, play basketball. Could the Nets be tired of Kyrie Irving’s absences?

Trading him may not be an easy decision. Rumors suggest that Kevin Durant would walk if Irving was let go.

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Furthermore, Irving’s off-court antics could scare away potential suitors. If the Nets have grown tired of him, why should other teams assume they won’t come to feel the same?

Still, all it takes is one team to bite on his prodigious talent. If the Nets can get value for Kyrie Irving this summer, it’s hard to say whether they’ll be able to resist it.