New York celebrity Ian Begley reported that although the Nets are eager to send Irving away, for two reasons, Irving is close to being unable to trade, and the Nets can't send him away.
1. Irving's contract status. With the Nets not completing an early contract extension with Irving this offseason, Irving currently has $71.42 million left on his two-year contract and an annual salary of $34.9 million this season.
There have been previous rumors that Irving will retire as soon as he is traded. Although Irving later clarified that he would not retire like this, by next year's offseason, Irving could choose to jump out of contract and become a full free agent.
In other words, any team that gets Irving is equivalent to only getting Irving's lease for half a year. What can I do in half a year? With Irving's temperament, he may not have played a few games, and the half year has passed. Teams that aspire to compete for the title or the playoffs will not expend energy on Irving's uncertainty. Rebuilding the team, there is no need to cause trouble like Irving, unless the Nets can pay a benefit fee (first-round picks, talented young players). What other first-round picks can the Nets have? The only talented young player is rookie Thomas. But for the bad team, they don't really value Thomas's talent. So, the Nets are really hard to send Irving away.
2. Irving's off-field troubles. Although except for the Nets, Knicks and Warriors, Irving can play on any other team. But with the advent of Opmiqueron, the whole of The United States began to tense up again. It won't be long before other teams, like the Warriors, Nets, and Knicks, don't get on the court without vaccination. So trading Irving added an element of uncertainty to itself.
Taking a step back, Can Irving play all the games, and with Owen's temperament, will he be able to play in peace? Owen didn't even give the good brother Durant the face, let alone everyone else. The team has a player like Irving, and the team dressing room should not think about it. Other teams, why should they invite such a big god into the locker room?
Ian Begley said that as the season progresses, the Nets may have to accept the reality that either Irving is back on the team with a vaccine or remains the status quo when Irving doesn't exist.
Will Irving be vaccinated back to the team? Oh, if he is willing to fight, he has already fought, why delay until now. According to Shams, Irving is still far from being vaccinated. How far away is that? Probably the distance between Durant and Scarlett's bathwater.
Industry analysts believe that it will be easier for the Nets to find another way to reinforce than to hope that Irving will return from the vaccine or strengthen him through trading.
For example, Griffin, who was recently abandoned by Nash, has a very good trading market. Mark Bellman, a reporter for the New York Post, reported that given Ard's excellent athletic form, as well as the presence of James Johnson and Millsap, the Nets have no demand for Griffin. But Griffin is still valuable in the trading market, he can play both the No. 4 position and the Top No. 5 position, can shoot three-pointers and defend, and is a very popular space-type interior line in the league.
Although Griffin is not in good shape this season, he was able to get 9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks in the playoffs last year, shooting 53% from the field and 39% from three-point range, making him the best player for the Nets to limit the alphabet brother. Many believe that with a little more patience on Griffin, he can get his form back from last season.
But one problem is that Griffin's contract is small (base salary), and the demand for Griffin is at least a playoff team. So it's not so easy for the Nets to reinforce by trading Griffin. If the Nets want to reinforce with a trade with Griffin, they have to pack Griffin and other players, such as with Joe Harris, or with Bruce Brown, to make a mid-level trade.
For the Nets, whether it is trading Irving or Griffin, it is not a simple matter, they need to put some thought into it.