1. Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn Nets
A bomb was dropped on Friday afternoon when it was first reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic that Kyrie Irving told the Brooklyn Nets that he wants to be traded ahead of the trade deadline.
Irving is set to be a free agent this summer. There were recent talks between Irving and the Nets about an extension, but no deal was reached and a trade request was delivered by Kyrie to the organization on Friday, according to ESPN.
Stephen A. Smith of ESPN was among the many surprised by Kyrie’s trade request.
Irving has been playing incredible basketball as of late for Brooklyn, averaging 27.1 points per game on close to 50/40/90 shooting splits, as well as adding 5.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. He was selected as an All-Star starter for a Nets team who currently sits in 4th in a stacked Eastern Conference.
A lot of NBA experts and fans believed this Nets squad was capable of competing for a championship with how well they’ve played this season.
Well, that championship window has been closed with one single tweet and the soap opera in Brooklyn continues and looks to be heading toward a tragic end for Nets fans.
Now that Irving has requested a trade, mind you a second time as he previously requested a trade ahead of the start of the season before declining to opt into the final year of his current four-year max contract, what team would want to trade for Kyrie?
According to Shams, the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, and Dallas Mavericks have emerged as potential suitors for Irving.
There was a lot of uncertainty surrounding this year’s trade deadline regarding how much action we’d see. Well, Kyrie said, “Hold my beer.”