After settling on the issue of an early contract extension for Kevin Durant, who returned from the Tokyo Olympics, Nets general manager Max patted his chest and said that he was confident of negotiating the early contract extension of each of the big three before the Nets training camp began. Just as the Negotiations between The Nets management and Carey Irving have progressed, and the latter may be willing to renew the contract at a price slightly lower than the top salary, NBA star Nick White has exposed a big melon, which suddenly pushed Irving to the forefront of public opinion.
White broke the news on his own social media that Irving's agent told the teams trying to inquire about the price: If Irving is traded, he will immediately retire in situ. In other words, Irving only intends to play for the Nets, on the other hand, if some teams force themselves to get him, the consequences may be nothing.
As we all know, Durant is not for sale, Harden is almost non-selling, so the situation of the Big Three is slightly different, and those teams that are eager to change the status quo (such as Philadelphia) will certainly not ask Kevin Durant, but they may have the mentality of trying to offer Irving, and there are indeed teams that do. But if White's revelation is true, Irving is equivalent to using another way to actively turn himself into a non-sale product, which will have a great impact on the trading market, and fairness and competitiveness will be a big problem.
Irving, on the other hand, is 29 years old, at the peak of his basketball career. For other players, almost no one believes that an All-Star in his current year will choose to retire because of a trade, and will only take this sentence as a baseless harsh word. But he's Kyrie Owen! After confessing his ancestors to his mother's Indian tribes, Owen was given the name "Little Mountain", and his unusual brain circuits have long been not limited to the theory of the horizon. Jumping a big god before playing, it is common to miss work for no reason.
When Owen scolded Nick White for lying on social media and described him as a "puppet", he said that Owen had publicly stated a few years ago that "I'm not the kind of guy who can play to the end of 30s, I expect my career to end in my early 30s". Obviously, he's not just talking, and unlike many players, basketball is just a job for Uncle Drew in exchange for a high salary. Taken together, it's enough to deter teams looking to try to push for an Irving trade, unable to predict what Irving will do next, and unwilling to take that risk.
But from the Nets' point of view, why didn't they want to maintain stability? Last season, because Durant's feet were so big, they regrettably wasted a chance to compete for the title, which made the pressure on their shoulders, whether it was the Big Three, Griffin, who had a basic salary, or Nash, a rookie coach who did not have a good full rank, or even the boss Tsai Chongxin, who spent money like water and was not afraid of luxury taxes, the pressure on their shoulders hit another point. The new season is once again saddled with the most optimistic title, and the Nets obviously have no room for error. However, in addition to the obvious problems of injury, run-in, aging and other issues, lurking under this lineup system that can be called a Galaxy, the biggest unstable factor is that from time to time, Kyrie Owen will focus on the field.
To paraphrase White's point of view, after sitting on Durant and Harden, their ball digestion ability is enough, and the offensive talent has been overflowing, if Irving, who is absent from work from time to time, is it more tempting than the current lineup? Unfortunately, Irving's attitude blocked such a possibility, and also cast an unclear shadow on the Nets' prospects for a new season.
Does that mean that over time, the Nets and Irving are bound to be on a lose-lose path? Not quite, the answer was in Owen's hand, and his mind was obviously unthinkable, and I was afraid that Uncle Drew himself could not foresee what he would be sure of in the future. Of course, if Irving can agree to the Nets' proposed early contract extension that is slightly below the maximum salary, then the problem will also be solved, and his attitude is to give the team the greatest confidence.