Here we go again.
After Kevin Durant requested a trade this past summer, then rescinded that request, it's Kyrie Irving's turn. The Brooklyn Nets point guard has told the team he wants to be dealt ahead of Thursday's 3 p.m. ET NBA trade deadline, and that if he's not, he plans on leaving Brooklyn in free agency this summer, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday.
Irving was briefly available in the summer, as he and his camp explored sign-and-trade options before deciding to opt in to the final year of his contract and play out the season with the Nets -- a season that has been filled with controversy, chaos and, most recently, a disappointing record with Durant sidelined by an injury.
Our NBA experts tried to make sense of the latest development and what it means for Irving, the Nets and the rest of the NBA.
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1. Fact or fiction: Kyrie has played his last game as a Net?
Kevin Pelton: Fact. Brooklyn already lost one season of contention with Kevin Durant to uncertainty over Irving's availability. The Nets can't risk another. Unlike last year, the rest of this roster is well-built to support Durant so long as the Nets can find a competent point guard via trade.
Tim Bontemps: Fiction. This is the same situation that happened last June. What happened? Brooklyn called Irving's bluff. I could see the same scenario playing out once again.
André Snellings: Fact. I just feel the Nets are ready to wash their hands of this situation and move on. They may not get top value for him, but if they can make a move that brings back any talent at this point, it's more than they'd get if he walked. With the level of uncertainty that already surrounded Irving, kicking it up several notches with this trade request tells me that there's no chance this team could make a run with him this season anyway. Time to pull the plug.
Bobby Marks: Fiction. Irving can leave as a free agent, so a swap for an expiring contract (Russell Westbrook or D'Angelo Russell for example) does nothing for Brooklyn, unless a first-round pick or young player is attached. I don't see the Nets being willing to take on salary that extends past this season unless something of value comes back. For example, does an extra year owed to Miami's Kyle Lowry make sense? How about Tim Hardaway Jr. and Reggie Bullock from the Mavericks? The Nets would be better off calling Irving's bluff and playing out the season.
Kirk Goldsberry: Fact. It's hard to imagine this organization doing anything other than getting out of the Irving business in the coming days. This strained partnership has gone from bad to worse this season, and assuming the Nets can get anything of value in return, which might be a big assumption, this relationship is over.
Nick Friedell: Fiction. They've called his bluff before -- why not just play it out this time? Especially over the next few days prior to the deadline. Unless the Nets are certain that Kyrie will walk, and won't need the help of a sign-and-trade, why force your hand in the moment?
2. How would you sum up Kyrie's time in Brooklyn?
Bontemps: As expected. Drama followed Irving throughout the first several years of his career, so it shouldn't come as a surprise it has for the past 3½ seasons in Brooklyn. People will point to the Bucks series a couple years ago and play the "what if" game, but it's hard to overcome the number of distractions that have surrounded this group regardless of talent level -- and Irving has caused the vast majority of them.
Snellings: Quicksand. Like in the movie "The Replacements," the Irving era in Brooklyn was categorized by one bad event after another just pulling the team downward until success wasn't possible. Had Kyrie come to Brooklyn alone, the disappointment probably wouldn't be as sharp. But, since he came in a package deal with Kevin Durant, who was trying to cement his own résumé on the GOAT list, and also brought in a former MVP in James Harden (who was later traded for former All-Star Ben Simmons), the expectation of a multiseason run had to be championship or bust. The fact that they never advanced past the second round of the playoffs, amidst all the drama and chaos, makes this one of the most underwhelming eras in NBA history.
Marks: A disaster. Drama has replaced basketball in the past four seasons. There was the 2019-20 season when Irving called out management that there was not enough talent on the roster, with Durant out for the year due to his Achilles injury. The following season, Irving left the team with an unexcused absence, eventually getting fined. In 2021-22, Irving missed an extended period because of the vaccination rules in New York City. Then there was last offseason when he explored sign-and-trade options before he was suspended this season after his tweet linking to an antisemitic documentary. Irving is an All-Star and a max player, but only on a one-year contract.
Goldsberry: Pure, unadulterated chaos. On the heels of turbulent times in both Boston and Cleveland, Irving had a chance to steady things next to Durant in Brooklyn and compete for championships on his own terms. Instead, he sparked constant issues in his new surroundings, and this roster is one of the most talented in the league but has disappointed. This latest trade demand might end up being the final episode in Irving's unfulfilling time in Brooklyn. Just a few weeks ago, his team was playing the best hoops in the league, now we're here -- it's a poetic return to chaos and disappointment, and it would be a fitting end to this doomed relationship.
Friedell: A roller coaster. Some good days, a lot more bad ones. The organization lived through a lot of emotional turmoil and Irving was at the center of most of it. He is an incredible player, but he is also the single biggest reason why this iteration of the Nets was never able to live up to its full potential.
Pelton: Frustrating. Every time the Nets seemed to have figured things out, something went wrong. It certainly wasn't Irving's fault he was sidelined by an ankle sprain the last three games of Brooklyn's series loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, which could have swung the title. Since then, however, the timing of his ineligibility due to COVID-19 vaccine requirements and this trade request could not possibly have been worse.
3. Which Los Angeles team would benefit more from trading for Kyrie?
Goldsberry: The Lakers are one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA, and if they could somehow turn Westbrook into Irving, the offense could suddenly thrive. Irving invites chaos, but he's still one of the best shooters in the league, and that is something the Lakers desperately need. We've already seen what he can do next to James. That said, any team taking on Irving is taking on a lot of risk that has nothing to do with jump shots.
Snellings: The Clippers. The Lakers could obviously use his shooting, but their team is quietly rounding into competitive form with the three point guards they already have. The Clippers, on the other hand, absolutely need a point guard. Right now, their offense too often descends into Kawhi Leonard and Paul George taking turns going one-on-one. There's no synergy. Kyrie isn't a traditional floor general, but he can handle the lead guard role and work with Kawhi and PG to make the offense run more smoothly. Kyrie is always a risk, clearly, but (stop me if you've heard this before) he could help make them a championship favorite.
Bontemps: The Lakers. They have no chance of winning now. With all of his flaws, Irving would at least give them one. Obviously, his talent would help the Clippers, too, but he gives the Lakers a completely different ceiling -- if a deal is able to be consummated.
Friedell: Lakers -- and that's because both LeBron and Kyrie sound motivated to make it work one more time together. I don't think getting Kyrie to the Lakers would be enough to get to the top tier of the West, but seeing the dynamic duo together one more time would be really interesting.
Marks: This sounds surprising, but the Clippers. The point guard situation has been a revolving door with Reggie Jackson, John Wall and Terance Mann. Irving, even as a four-month rental, gives the Clippers their best chance at winning a championship.
Pelton: Likely the Lakers. The Clippers don't really need Irving's shot creation; their ideal point guard is more of a veteran, calming presence. Irving would make the Lakers a far more dangerous playoff team this season, and adding him now would allow them to stay over the cap this summer and re-sign other free agents using Bird rights.
4. How will this trade request affect Kevin Durant, if at all?
Marks: TBD. If Irving is traded or leaves as a free agent, Durant would be staring at a roster that consists of Ben Simmons, Joe Harris, Nic Claxton, Royce O'Neale, Patty Mills, Cam Thomas and Day'Ron Sharpe. Brooklyn would only have the full midlevel exception to sign a replacement for Irving. Once again, Brooklyn could be looking at another trade demand, this time from Durant for a second consecutive offseason.
Goldsberry: Hard to say. He's obviously made his own demands recently, but who knows if this means he's done in Brooklyn too? It might, but it's also possible that Durant, who is in the midst of one of the best scoring seasons I've ever seen, could simply put his head down and try to lead this team to a championship. He's still arguably the greatest scorer on the planet, and he gives this team a chance to win any game against any opponent.
Friedell: Why would Durant want to stay on a team that could lose Kyrie and has Ben Simmons' contract clogging up a big chunk of the organization's salary cap? Why would he want to stay on a team that has no chance to win a title? I think Kyrie's potential departure would also clear up a lot about Durant's future in Brooklyn.
Pelton: I don't know if even the Nets know exactly how Durant will respond to this latest turn in the Irving saga. As Durant himself told Nick, requesting a trade in-season is a lot different than doing so in the offseason, so I don't think what happened last summer is a guide for how the next week will play out.
Bontemps: It remains unclear, but this is -- by far -- the most important question about all of this. Where Durant is playing moving forward is far more significant to the structure of the league than where Irving will be. And how he reacts to this follows the same logic path.
Snellings: If Irving is traded for future prospects/picks as opposed to a comparable package of talent that could compete right now, I think Durant makes his own trade demand immediately after. We saw some version of that last summer; we heard Durant's interview earlier this season where he boldly stated that the team didn't have enough talent without Kyrie. And Durant turns 35 this year. He knows he doesn't have all that much time left, and within the last eight months, he'll have seen major rivals make history with LeBron passing Kareem not long after Steph won Finals MVP.
5. Is this the final nail in the coffin for general managers attempting to assemble Big Three teams?
Marks: Likely, unless we're talking about the New York Liberty or Las Vegas Aces. In all seriousness, there will eventually be another NBA team that builds its roster not through the draft or trades but by creating multiple max salary slots to chase All-Star free agents.
Goldsberry: Absolutely not. Sure, this one hasn't worked, but teams like the Lakers and Clippers are destined to keep trying to lure the league's top talent to prestige markets in trades and free agency.
Friedell: No. Teams are always going to try and get the most talent they can. Superstar players are always going to lean toward playing with their friends. Just because this experiment may have failed doesn't mean the next one will. It's all about the mix of personalities.
Pelton: Wouldn't the Lakers be a Big Three if they get Irving? The NBA is a star-driven league, and teams will always want to assemble as many of them as is possible without completely sacrificing depth.
Bontemps: No. Talent wins out. It's why the Nets chose to do this four years ago, and it's why teams will always choose to acquire talent and figure out the fit later. Nothing that's happened in Brooklyn will change that.
Snellings: Of course not. Teams will always go for the allure of the big names if they can get them. And, let's be clear: This experiment didn't fail due to lack of talent. And it's not like it wasn't foreseeable. When Kyrie and Durant came to Brooklyn, my analytic assessment was that it wouldn't lead to championships. Successful teams require a diversity of skill sets and a certain mindset that I just didn't see in Brooklyn. So, if I'm GM of a team that has the opportunity to get three superstars, I absolutely take it ... and just make sure that the superstars I'm bringing in fit together with a likelihood of NBA championships, not just fantasy hoops success.
6. BONUS QUESTION: Who's the next big star to ask for a trade?
Goldsberry: Durant is a tempting guess, but it's also not really fair. Outside of the Nets, I have my eye on Zach LaVine in Chicago, who has clashed with Billy Donovan this season while the Bulls continue to struggle to find any kind of identity.
Friedell: Who knows? That's the part about the drama that fans seem to enjoy the most these days. I don't see how Durant stays long-term in Brooklyn if Kyrie gets moved -- but who knows how it will play out.
Pelton: Durant. Given it won't likely happen in the next few days, despite what I said in the previous question I think Durant is the best bet.
Bontemps: If we have learned anything over the past year or so, it's to not trust what you expect to happen in the NBA. I think that couldn't be more applicable than to this question.
Snellings: Durant is the obvious answer. I wouldn't be surprised if, behind the scenes, he'd already made the request.
Marks: Obviously, Bradley Beal is a name to keep an eye on if the Wizards do not make the play-in game. I would say Damian Lillard, but the All-Star has shown loyalty to Portland and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Trae Young could be in the conversation this offseason but Atlanta's ownership is more inclined to build around the guard and not look for trade suitors.