Brooklyn Nets: 3 thoughts on pushing in the chips for James Harden
By Duncan Smith
Kyrie Irving might be a factor in a James Harden trade
The biggest question mark in the whole NBA season so far hangs over the head of Kyrie Irving, wherever he is right now. He took some time away from the Brooklyn Nets after the US Capitol building was stormed by insurgents bent on violently overthrowing the government of the United States, and who can blame him? I know I got less work done that day, so I’ll be the last to throw stones here.
However, from a practical standpoint, Irving is still gone from the team and has been ruled out for at least the rest of the week. That’s aside from the likely stringent health and safety protocols he will have to undergo when he does return, thanks to video circulating of him celebrating his sister and father’s birthdays without masks.
Related Story. Brooklyn Nets are traveling in uncharted waters. light
At this point, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Irving miss the rest of January. Even his own head coach Steve Nash was tepid in his response to a question about Kyrie returning THIS SEASON.
When asked if he thought Irving would be back, Nash merely said:
“Sure.”
Reporting suggested that Irving wasn’t pleased with the idea of playing with James Harden, but if Kyrie isn’t going to be around, who cares? Obviously, at some point, Irving will return to the Nets (or at least the NBA), but thanks to Spencer Dinwiddie’s season-ending injury and the fact that Joe Harris can’t be traded until March, the best way to make salaries work is to throw Kyrie Irving into a deal for James Harden.
Will it exacerbate whatever Irving is going through? Who knows? And it’s a business at the end of the day, so Irving will have to deal with the consequences of his actions whether they end up being justified (and they very well may be) or not.
Of course, another complication is that Kyrie Irving may be completely undesirable by any other team at this point. However, from a Brooklyn Nets standpoint, they may be able to resolve two problems at once by getting Harden’s infusion of talent and moving off of Irving entirely.