With five days remaining until NBA free agency begins, there's a clear frontrunner in the Kyrie Irving sweepstakes.
The Brooklyn Nets remain Irving's "preferred choice" in free agency, ESPN's Zach Lowe reported Tuesday, citing both "plugged-in reporters" and "sources around the league."
The Nets, Lowe wrote, have "telegraphed their intention" of signing both Irving and superstar Kevin Durant, even after the latter tore his Achilles in the NBA Finals.
Irving himself apparently is joining in that effort, as the (soon-to-be) former Boston Celtics guard reportedly met with Durant twice in recent weeks to pitch him on coming to Brooklyn.
The New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers were initially reported as contenders to land Irving in unrestricted free agency, but the Nets, armed with a roster of young overachievers and the flexibility to add two maximum-salary players, appear to have overtaken both.
The only questions now are 1) whether Durant would join Kyrie in Brooklyn or sign elsewhere and 2) what the Nets plan to do with pending restricted free agent D'Angelo Russell.
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Lowe polled about 30 NBA executives who nearly all agreed Brooklyn should replace Russell with Irving, but some executives did note "concerns about chemistry" with Irving that would give them pause on signing the 27-year-old if Durant didn't come with him.
All of this is to say Irving seems as good as gone from Boston after June 30, with the Celtics' Atlantic Division rival his likely destination.
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