Reports surfaced last week about how Nets point guard Kyrie Irving was interested in discussing a contract extension with Brooklyn. Irving’s camp also attempted to put pressure on the Nets to kickstart talks.
Here’s what Shetellia Irving said:
Around Kyrie and staying with the Nets? I have reached out to the Nets regarding this. We have had no significant conversations to date. The desire is to make Brooklyn home, with the right type of extension, which means the ball is in the Nets’ court to communicate now if their desire is the same.
Once this hit the internet, my immediate thought was, “Hold on there, partner. It’s been two good months, but that’s about it so far.” It looks like the Nets agree with that sentiment, according to Marc Stein.
The NBA insider said the Nets believe “they are under no pressure to move swiftly on the extension front when Irving would likely need their help via sign-and-trade to relocate in the offseason to any other team he likes.”
Can you blame them? This is the second time Brooklyn and Irving have gotten themselves into a game of contract extension chicken. Kyrie tried to pull the same thing over the summer. Instead, he settled on exercising his $36.5 million player option.
At that time, he didn’t have many options on places to play outside of the Nets. At least, that’s what he said during Nets media day before the season started. So, in just the span of a few months, Irving went from being close to leaving to wanting to make Brooklyn home.
It’s not like this about-face is a crazy one. Enough time has passed for feelings to change. After all, Jacque Vaughn is now the head coach instead of Steve Nash. Brooklyn has been among the NBA’s best teams since that switch happened, too.
But, this also feels like Irving and his camp are trying to pounce on the fact that the last couple of months since returning from his suspension have been good. That shouldn’t justify as a solid starting point to negotiate a four-year extension potentially worth up to $200 million.
The Nets know that, and they’re not going to be fooled right now. Plus, their focus is likely on the trade deadline that’s fast approaching and supplementing the roster for the stretch run. They’ll worry about Kyrie’s contract situation later this year, and maybe not until after the season.
His tenure with Brooklyn has been far from smooth, so there’s no reason to rush any decisions. The Nets have lots of leverage here, and Irving’s camp probably knows that. They’re doing what they can to put pressure on Brooklyn, but it’s not working.
This will probably be a storyline to follow for the rest of this year. It’ll be interesting to see if anything else comes of it now that a report regarding the Nets’ feelings has surfaced in response to the initial one from Kryie.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
