Should the Brooklyn Nets give Kyrie Irving a contract extension?

Should the Brooklyn Nets give Kyrie Irving a contract extension?: Cons

The first, most glaring con of giving Kyrie Irving an extension is the unknown of when New York City will lift its vaccine mandates. Most people assume that will be soon with the way things have been trending, but no one really knows.

Let’s say that the mandates aren’t lifted by the start of next season. This seems extremely unlikely, but what happens if another variant pops up? What if mandates go away and come back?

Irving has made it very clear that he does not wish to be vaccinated, which means that whenever vaccine-related mandates are in place, he won’t be able to play games in New York (or Toronto, for that matter).

At the start of the season, the Brooklyn Nets made it clear that they would not accept Irving as a part-time player who wasn’t able to play in home games. And while they folded on that belief mid-way through the season, would they be willing to have him be a part-time player in the future?

But even if (and when) the mandates get lifted, it’s become clear how big of a nuisance having Irving on your team can be. Even outside of the vaccine mandate hullabaloo, all of his other antics need to be taken into account.

So, while the Nets will almost certainly choose to extend Irving, it’s not a crazy conversation to have. Would they be better off letting him go and finding another co-star for Kevin Durant?