Very real: Ben Simmons wants a trade from the 76ers, who are shopping him (slowly).
Less real: Simmons to the Nets for Kyrie Irving.
That idea has gained attention merely as a hypothetical, popularized by Nick Wright of Fox Sports and David Thorpe of TrueHoop. Considering Brooklyn has Kevin Durant and James Harden as scorers, it’s interesting to ponder whether Simmons would help the Nets more than Irving does. Simmons’ passing, defense and health could add more value in Brooklyn than Irving – an overall superior player – provides.
But just in case anyone with the Nets or another team is taking an Irving trade seriously…
Nick Wright of Fox Sports:
Some NBA news:
— nick wright (@getnickwright) September 15, 2021
There are a handful of Kyrie trades that potentially make sense for the Nets, Kyrie’s agents have made it known that Kyrie would simply *retire from the NBA* if Brooklyn were to trade him.
Irving:
A Puppet pic.twitter.com/iKxopt0zcL
— Chief Hélà🤞🏾A11Even Tribe (@KyrieIrving) September 16, 2021
Wright:
Kyrie, if you’re saying you didn’t say you’d retire if you were traded, then your beef is with your representation, not with me, because you and I both know that’s what they’ve told people.
— nick wright (@getnickwright) September 16, 2021
This is probably moot. The Nets lured Durant and Irving as a package and have completely catered to those stars. It’s hard to imagine Brooklyn risking alienating Durant by moving Irving.
In fact, Nets general manager Sean Marks just expressed confidence the team would sign Irving to a contract extension before training camp.
Though DeAndre Jordan also joined Brooklyn in the Durant-Irving package then just got traded, his reward was his lucrative contract. Jordan accepted a buyout (technically from the Pistons but first negotiated with the Nets) and sounded ready to move on.
Irving, on the other hand, prioritized being in Brooklyn.
Despite Irving’s denial(?), Wright doubled down – hard – on his reporting. That seems telling. The 29-year-old Irving has previously discussed retiring relatively early. Maybe he actually would retire if traded.
But it just seems unlikely we’ll find out.