There are times when a “simple” trade between two teams has a knock-on effect on the rest of the NBA. It may be due to the fact that it opens the ban on new operations or that it paralyzes others. In the case of movement Kyrie Irving of Brooklyn Nets a Dallas Mavericks This exchange is bound to have implications that may affect a good number of franchises, directly or indirectly.
On Friday the 3rd, Kyrie requested the transfer to the New Yorkers and on the same Sunday, February 5, the news was already leaking that he was going to head to Texas to play with Luka Doncic. An express exit from what was one of the pillars of the Nets’ project in the 2019 Free Agency and that leaves them in an extremely precarious situation (again).
Normally when one wonders after a transfer of these characteristics who has been the team that has won the operation and who has lost it the logical thing is to reduce it to those involved. In the case of the trade between Brooklyn and Dallas, there are more franchises and protagonists that will feel its effect.
It is time to analyze it.
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Kyrie Irving trade winners
Kyrie Irving
Never lose sight of the fact that the NBA is a business. This axiom that applies so much to team decision-making happens to have been the card that Kyrie has played in this long process. After the controversy caused by the publication of anti-Semitic content on his networks last October, the point guard rejoined the Nets and did not star in any scandal again.
Far from his own interest to no longer be in the focus of public opinionThe other reason for this was that behind the scenes the franchise and its entourage were negotiating a possible contract extension. Irving was going to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season and his goal, like the rest of the players, was to secure as much money as possible in the long term. However, as different journalists reported, both parties did not reach an agreement due to the team’s reservations when it came to committing with their eyes closed to the point guard.
It is at that moment when the conversations fall apart that Irving tightens the rope and asks for the transfer. Something that, in record time, is accomplished.
along the way, andThe environment of the base leaked to the press that, in case of not being transferred, perhaps he would choose not to play. A rather dangerous ordeal on his part because as he pointed out Bobby Marks de ESPN would have jeopardized his next contract since he would not have been able to sign with any other franchise.
MORE | Kyrie Irving to Dallas Mavericks: the details of the transfer that joins the point guard with Luka Doncic
By being moved to Dallas Irving achieves his goal twice. He arrives at a team desperate for a star who is going to roll out the red carpet for him if all goes as expected. And the most important, when disembarking via transfer, the Mavs retain their Bird rights, which allow a franchise to re-sign a player over the salary cap in Free Agency.
Yes, the Mavs can choose not to continue their relationship in July or sign-and-trade him, but they don’t have a lot of leeway to give Doncic a partner of the same level.
Houston Rockets
The great indirect winner of this transfer is none other than the Rockets. The Texan team was the one who began the process of decomposing the future of the Nets in 2021 by agreeing to the movement of James Harden to Brooklyn. In that operation Houston received in the form of Draft rounds the First of 2022 (Tari Eason), right to exchange her first of 2023, 2025 and 2027 and the First without protection of 2024 and 2026.
Texans right now are waiting to see how the pharaonic project of Brooklyn is slowly falling apart. For when the Rockets receive the last round by Draft Kevin Durant will be about to turn 38 years oldsomething that can be extended even to the following course thanks to your right of swap. Will KD still be in the franchise by then? It seems difficult to think of a future with the star beyond this February 9.
Transferring rounds without control only makes sense if you are completely sure of the viability of the project five years from now. The Nets conditioned their potential rebuilding plan on a Big Three who played 8 games together and it will take them a decade to leave behind.
Meanwhile, the Rockets rub their hands.
The Eastern Conference contenders
Watching from the sidelines as the Nets collapse little by little they find themselves Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks y Philadelphia 76ers. These three Eastern Conference all-around candidates had had their ups and downs with Brooklyn up to this point in the season, especially when Kevin Durant had been healthy and fit.
Without going any further, the New Yorkers were seconds 1 game away from leading the East at the time KD was injured.
Now, with the star out for at least one more week, which translates into 4 games, the Nets may end up dropping to sixth place and watching the Play-In very closely. This is what happened to them last season and the result was not at all satisfactory.
With this, the Eastern candidates lose an immediate competitor whose potential to win was real, reducing the fight to three names and an asterisk such as the Cavs.
Kyrie Irving trade losers
LeBron James y los Lakers
Since last July the Lakers they have been trying to get hold of Kyrie Irving. The Californians tried to do it through a sign&trade and in conventional transfer but they did not reach an agreement with the Nets to work the numbers. Something that was reactivated at the moment that the point guard indicated his desire to leave New York just a few days ago.
After what LeBron James used the media to send a message to Lakers management, it didn’t take long for him to do the same from his Twitter account. the star reacted con emojis, like wanting to create expectations about what could happen. However, around the time Kyrie’s move to Dallas was confirmed, James tweeted: “Maybe it’s me.”
Maybe It’s Me
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 6, 2023
as reportedLakers offered their two First Round picks available (2027 and 2029), but the owner of the Nets was not about to move Irving to the great rival franchise.
Thus, Californians are left without much room for maneuver to move the contract of Russell Westbrook, as well as those of others expirings, in order to rebuild your project before it is too late. The Lakers needed to part with players who will be Free Agents in order to have salary margin due to different market rules (cap holds) and now things get complicated.
On the other hand, LeBron James is harmed by this transfer of Irving since he is going to see how he wastes a dream season in a mediocre team. Something as a consequence of his decisions and pressure on management, everything must be said.
Brooklyn Nets
The Nets have been fleeing forward since James Harden asked for the transfer a year ago.
There is an unwritten law that the team that gets rid of the best player will never get a package of the same or even slightly similar value.
Brooklyn He has drawn from the dismemberment of his Big Three the following:
- Ben Simmons
- Seth Curry
- Andre Drummond: left in the next Free Agency
- First Round of 76ers of 2023: which will be between pick 20 and 30
- 2027 76ers First Round
- Dorian Finney-Smith
- Spencer Dinwiddie: who was already in Brooklyn in 2020
- 2029 Mavs First Round
- Two Mavs second rounds (2027 and 2029)
MORE | How did the Brooklyn Nets fare after the transfer of Kyrie Irving? All the pressure on Kevin Durant
The big question is, What position were the Nets best in? With a starting lineup of Irving-Dinwiddie-Harris-Durant-Jarrett Allen and 6th-man Caris LeVert or with the current roster?
Sean Marks played his cards to rob the bank and take the Larry O’Brien on the fast track and in the end he had to activate survival mode to try to rectify an unsolvable problem.
The loot that Brooklyn has obtained for a expiring As Irving is, it is not little, but it is a bittersweet outcome if the entire history of the team is taken into account. Under normal conditions, a star of his caliber would have given him a few more First Rounds and a player with a greater impact, or teams with better offers would have appeared. The reality is that New Yorkers now have to dance with a very dignified group of secondary and pray that Kevin Durant does not ask to leave here on Thursday, February 9.
The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
