High-fives all around in the Nets owners suite after shipping Kyrie Irving to the Mavericks.
According to a report from Marc Stein, one of Nets owner Joe Tsai’s “presumed objectives” was to not trade Irving to the Lakers, which was his “preferred” destination after he requested a trade from Brooklyn last week. A trade to Los Angeles would have reunited Irving with LeBron James, with whom he won an NBA championship back in 2016 with the Cavaliers.
However, Tsai — possibly at least slightly annoyed by Irving’s dramatic and tumultuous tenure in Brooklyn — did not want to comply with his wishes. The Nets ended up shipping the point guard to the Mavericks instead for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a future first-round pick and two second-rounders.
Just amazing. The Lakers were offering two future first-round picks. And Russell Westbrook would have at least made things somewhat interesting the rest of the way. But after capitulating to Irving for years and being exposed as completely spineless when the point guard pulled off his most despicable stunt — his unremorseful promotion of an anti-semitic film — Tsai just had to stick it to him. Or something like that.
MORE: Mike Francesa sums up Nets’ Kyrie Irving debacle in one tweet
All that is left now is for Kevin Durant to demand his trade and then move on out. The Ben Simmons-led Nets might as well play in Budapest. No one will care. Which is what happens when you construct a team solely to generate content for ESPN and win championships and you never get to the second part.
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James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @jameskratch.
