Brooklyn Nets gave permission to Kyrie Irving to seek a sign and trade deal in the offseason market, per Kristian Winfield of NY Daily News. Kyrie and Nets talks have reached at “impasse” and Irving might be seeing his future away from Brooklyn.
The Lakers are reportedly the only interested team in the All-Star point guard. However, Sign-and-trade talks also technically aren’t allowed until free agency begins this Thursday evening, as Adrian Wojnarowski said.
Opt-in-and-trade scenarios – in which Irving picks up his $36.9 million player option for 2022/23 – would be more viable for many potential trade partners. Kyrie has until Wednesday to make a final decision on his option.
Irving had six teams on his original preferred list, according to ESPN, which includes the Lakers, Clippers, Knicks, 76ers, Mavericks and Heat. Brooklyn hasn’t offered the guard a max deal this offseason.
They hoped for Irving to sign a shorter-term deal, which would be incentivized due to him missing many games the last two seasons. He only appeared in 29 games last season due to New York’s vaccine mandate.
Ricky Rubio bound to return in Cleveland
The Cleveland Cavaliers might have to keep an open roster spot for Ricky Rubio as the franchise is interested in bringing him back this summer, per Jason Lloyd of The Athletic. Rubio joined the Cavs last summer, but he did not finish the season with them.
A few months after his ACL injury, Ricky Rubio was traded to the Indiana Pacers in order to get Caris LeVert to Cleveland. Cleveland didn’t want to add any other players at this stage. With that said, Rubio won’t be ready to start the season.
Rubio probably won’t play through the start of the season due to rehab from his injury. He would be a useful piece for any team in the second half of the season, provided he can continue controlling the floor like he used to.
Spurs,Hawks discussed trade centered around John Collins
The Atlanta Hawks and San Antonio Spurs have discussed a trade centered around John Collins, according to NBA insider Marc Stein (h/t HoopsHype). There is plenty of speculation the last few days around Collins’ availability.
On Friday, The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner cited one source who said Collins is “done in Atlanta.” Later, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report reported Spurs guard Dejounte Murray was included in the discussions regarding Collins.
In any case, the Hawks seem willing to offload the bigman contract worth an annual salary of $25 million next season. An offense-first player Collins averaged 16.2 points on while shooting 52.6 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from beyond the arc in 2021-22.
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