For most of the day, a lot of Laker fans got excited at the potential of Kyrie Irving joining the team after Kyrie was reportedly granted permission to seek a sign and trade and Adrian Wojnarowski said that the Lakers were the only team that was interested.
It was either going to be a sign and trade or him opting out of his $36.5 million contract and signing with the Lakers for their $6 million exceptions.
Kyrie had other plans because he has now opted into his contract for next season and will return to the Nets making it a little tougher for the Lakers to get him. He can still be traded but that seems unlikely.
The scenario that seems to be in the best interest of both sides is that they use this upcoming season as a “prove it” year for Kyrie where he proves he can be reliable and then they will give him an extension which they have a year until they have to give it to him or not.
Irving had created a list of teams he would have liked the Nets to consider working with on a sign-and-trade if they couldn’t agree on terms for him to stay in Brooklyn, but the Los Angeles Lakers were the only team known to be interested, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Without the ability to find a sign-and-trade deal, Irving plans to exercise his player option, sources confirmed. He has until 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday to file to paperwork to opt-in.
Irving is now no longer eligible for a sign-and-trade. The Nets could still work to trade him as an expiring contract, but Irving would have no formal voice in a potential landing spot. He has until June 30 of next year to work out an extension with the Nets before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
It also makes sense for the Nets because they don’t have control of their own draft pick until 2028 at the earliest so rebuilding would have been tough.
For now, Kyrie Irving will be a Brooklyn Net.
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