Kyrie Irving was said to be considering the “nuclear” threat of sitting out the remainder of the NBA season if the Nets didn’t heed his request to be traded before Thursday’s trade deadline.
We’ll pause here until you stop laughing. Or shaking your head.
In no way should Nets owner Joe Tsai and GM Sean Marks have allowed Irving to suit up in the black-and-white Brooklyn uniform again after the latest of an astonishing series of dramatic twists and turns since he agreed to join Kevin Durant to form a free-agent mega duo in the summer of 2019.
And they swiftly sent the super-talented headache packing on Sunday, bringing back old friend Spencer Dinwiddie, useful role player Dorian Finney-Smith and a few draft picks (an unprotected 2029 first-rounder and second-rounders in 2027 and 2029) from Mark Cuban and the Mavericks, who also received Markieff Morris in the swap.
Now the ball is firmly back in the injured Durant’s court concerning his future with the organization, just a few months after he rescinded his own summertime trade request to take another swing at a championship alongside Irving.
Irving and KD wound up appearing in just 74 regular-season games together over four seasons with the Nets, including Durant missing the entire first year following Achilles surgery. That number also includes just 16 games as a Big 3 with James Harden, before he similarly forced his way out of town and to Philadelphia last winter in the blockbuster that imported Ben Simmons.
With the days dwindling ahead of the trade deadline, Durant likely already has informed the organization of his thoughts on whether he believes the Nets can make a run as presently constructed.
Dinwiddie posted a career-best 20.6 points per game for the Nets while Durant was sidelined in 2019-20, and they played in three games together at the start of the next season before Dinwiddie blew out his knee and then signed with the Wizards via free agency the following summer.
Dinwiddie’s departure preceded most of the drama Irving generated thereafter in Brooklyn, including his refusal to be vaccinated for COVID-19 last season and his promotion of a movie containing anti-Semitic messages earlier this season.
Irving’s contract demands now are the immediate problem for the Mavericks, who let Jalen Brunson leave to sign with the Knicks in free agency last summer. Longtime NBA reporter Mark Stein reported Sunday that Cuban and the Mavs front office consulted with superstar Luka Doncic before approving the trade for Irving.
But Irving, recently voted to his eighth career All-Star appearance (as an Eastern Conference starter), now has forced his way out of a third NBA city with title aspirations. He’d also done so in Cleveland after winning a championship alongside LeBron James and in Boston — where his father Drederick starred in college (BU alumni plug!) — following two seasons with the Celtics.
According to reports, the Nets chose the Mavericks’ trade package over these competing offers:
• Lakers: Russell Westbrook and two first-round picks (2027, 2029)
• Suns: Chris Paul, Jae Crowder, one first-round pick
• Clippers: Luke Kennard, Terance Mann, one first-round pick, two first-round pick swaps
Of the various trade rumblings in recent days involving Irving, the one I was most interested in seeing would have been dual reunions between Durant and Westbrook in Brooklyn and between LeBron and Irving with the Lakers. KD and Westbrook played eight seasons with the Thunder before Durant signed with the Warriors and won two championships alongside Steph Curry.
That would have been a fascinating “go-for-it” move by the Nets, and it makes you wonder whether Marks can pull off another big-ticket addition before Thursday’s deadline or he’ll break down his existing roster with the Durant blockbuster he failed to pull off last summer.
Today’s back page
Read more:
⚾ Carlos Beltran leaving YES Network for job in Mets’ front office
🏒 Islanders sign new star Bo Horvat to $68 million extension
🏀 North Carolina faces the unthinkable if something doesn’t change fast
The Knicks craziness continues
Don’t even try to figure out the Knicks and their ongoing seesaw of a season, at this point. Simply embrace their unpredictability.
One day after losing in overtime at home against the Clippers, the Knicks fell behind by 21 points in the first quarter Sunday before rebounding for a 108-97 win Sunday night at the Garden over a full-strength 76ers team that came in with an eight-game road winning streak.
As in their victory over the Heat earlier in the week without Jalen Brunson, the Knicks’ bench came through again after RJ Barrett was a last-minute scratch due to an illness.
Evan Fournier (17 points) and Miles McBride (14) notched season highs, and Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed 14 rebounds — to match Joel Embiid on the boards — before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
Entering Tuesday’s visit to Orlando to face hotshot rookie Paolo Banchero and the improving Magic, the Knicks (29-26) are a half-game behind the Heat for the coveted No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference.
Sunday’s win also ensures the Knicks will remain above .500 entering Thursday’s trade deadline, and the onus is on team president Leon Rose to reward Tom Thibodeau’s team and swing a deal or two to fortify the roster for a true playoff push.
Postcard from Phoenix
The Post’s team of football writers are in Phoenix this week to cover the Super Bowl. What’s it like to be there and take in the sights and sounds leading up to the big game? This first dispatch is from Ryan Dunleavy, who’s had better trips:
If either the Chiefs or Eagles has a Super Bowl 57 gameday like I had Sunday on my way to Phoenix, the final score is going to be a blowout.
At least that’s how I see it as I wait in the emergency room, 14 hours after leaving home.
The four-hour plane delay felt all too typical for travel these days. Credit American Airlines for finding a new plane and making sure the flight took off rather than rescheduling for the next morning. Sitting in the same row as a woman with a dog in her purse when I’m allergic to dog hair was an adventure.
The real bummer was every time I took a step. I think I broke my toe doing household chores before I left New Jersey. After making the mistake of taking my sneaker off on the plane, I couldn’t get it back on because of the swelling. These airport- and street-tracked socks will be going directly in the garbage.
Downtown Phoenix is supposed to be a desirable Super Bowl location because so many of the key locations this week are within walking distance of one another. Oh goodie!
Super storylines
Super Bowl week has arrived, and there is no shortage of storylines that will be talked about extensively over the next several days.
• In case you hadn’t heard, SB LVII marks the first time in the big game’s history that two siblings will compete play for opposing teams: Chiefs all-world tight end Travis Kelce and Eagles center Jason Kelce.
• Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts also will be making history as the first black quarterbacks to start against each other in the Super Bowl, and sideline bosses Andy Reid (a former Eagles head coach) and Nick Sirianni (a former receivers coach with the Chiefs) will be facing their former teams.
• From a local perspective, some Giants fans might want to follow whether discarded 2021 first-round pick Kadarius Toney — traded during the season — dresses for the Chiefs after suffering a ankle injury in the AFC Championship game.
• And with Tom Brady retired again, Mahomes, at 27, can become the only active quarterback — and the 13th in history — with multiple championships.