Brooklyn Nets: Exploring a Trade for Kyrie Irving 2
Apr 9, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) drives to the basket against the Atlanta Hawks in the first quarter at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Kyrie Irving wants to be traded out of Cleveland. What would it take to get him on the Brooklyn Nets?

The NBA was submerged in complete chaos Friday afternoon when reports surfaced that Irving was tired of playing in the shadow of LeBron James.

In a meeting with front office staff, Irving formally requested a trade out of Cleveland.

Brian Windhorst of ESPN was first with the report.

Windhorst’s report dropped, fans all across the globe went crazy. Trades have been put together and explored for nearly every team in the league.

Why not the Brooklyn Nets?

One of the teams with the most remaining cap space, fans are expecting that Brooklyn will make one more move prior to the start of the season.

Could Sean Marks pull off this franchise altering trade? A look at a potential Brooklyn-Cleveland agreement, sending Irving to the Nets.

For the Brooklyn Nets, holding on to D’Angelo Russell will be everything here. The opportunity of a back court consisting of Irving and Russell is more than enough to bet the bank on.

For the Cleveland Cavaliers, they get a temporary fix in Jeremy Lin, who’s at least capable of scoring. (LeBron does all the passing anyways).

Archie Goodwin has shown tremendous growth in the summer league and will be a nice backup at shooting guard.

Andrew Nicholson, because, everybody could use some help off the glass.

The future picks are only all the more incentive to get this thing moving. If James does leave next summer as is rumored, they’ll need them. More than anything they’ll need some guaranteed youth.

What’s the Likelihood of This Happening?

Odds are that all 29 other teams were on the phone inquiring about Irving Friday afternoon. It’s not hard to determine whether Brooklyn was in the mix, whether as a trade partner or third team to take on salary.

If the Nets had held on to Brook Lopez, this is something that could have really been pulled off. It’s not impossible at this point, as Brooklyn does have two first-round picks (2018 Raptors, 2019 own).

Whether they’re willing to give them up when they were just on the brink of a rebuild is tricky. Sure, Irving is only 25, and he’s easily one of the five best point guards in the game. Is that worth putting the franchise at stake for the second time this decade?

For Cleveland, there’s no outcome where both LeBron and Kyrie show up for training camp come August. After all the dramatics, they would look like even bigger fools to keep Irving. They’ll need to make a move, but do the Nets offer the best package?



It’s very likely Brooklyn could get involved should this become a three-team scenario.

Without knowledge of packages being offered, it’s impossible to determine if they have what it takes to pull this trade off directly.

Either way, chances are that general manager Sean Marks isn’t finished just yet.

Writer, reader, entertainer. New York Knicks and the Carolina Panthers. Hoodie Melo is my spirit animal.