Kyrie Irving requested a trade on Friday after he and the Nets couldn’t come to terms on an extension. He’s been linked to several teams since like the Lakers, Suns, Heat, and Mavericks, and if traded, he has limited options to extend his contract mid-season. He was listed out for Saturday’s game against Washington with calf soreness despite being listed as available the day before shortly after his trade request was announced. We now wait for a potential deal, with Adrian Wojnarowski saying that the Nets are proceeding in talks as though they’re determined to find a deal for Irving.
But what if there is no trade? If the threat of losing Irving in free agency for nothing is real then that should be enough reason for the Nets to consider trading him now. However, if their top priority remains to contend for a championship this season, then that possibility likely gets eliminated by trading Irving. With that in mind, there is a strong case for the Nets to keep Irving past the trade deadline and deal with his situation later.