The Brooklyn Nets made a trade on Thursday, but it wasn't the trade itself that made waves across the league. It was the ripple effect it has on the Kyrie Irving sweepstakes.
By trading Allen Crabbe, the No. 17 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, and a protected first in 2020 to the Hawks for Taurean Prince and a 2021 second-round pick, the Nets can make room for two max slots.
Evidently, this amplifies the Kyrie-to-Brooklyn rumors that have existed over the last month. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports Irving is "serious" about signing with the Nets in free agency, and the Nets are "serious" about beating out the Knicks to sign the premier free agents.
We'll have to wait until the end of the month to find out just how serious the two sides are about uniting, but the Nets' trade makes it clear they won't be messing around once free agency begins on June 30.
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