The NBA truly is the best soap opera out there.
In addition to the wildly entertaining action on the court, the league’s well of rumors and drama never seems to run dry. And for better or worse, Kyrie Irving has been a fixture in the chaos of late.
Irving’s future with the Celtics remains unclear. The star point guard initially vocalized his desire to re-sign with Boston this summer, but many have portrayed his recent remarks as a sign of potentially backtracking on the verbal commitment. And if Irving does end up deciding to flee the C’s, the New York Knicks have been pinpointed as a possible landing spot.
The Knicks make enough sense on paper. Irving would be able to play closer to his hometown, and New York has enough cap space to sign another max-contract free agent as well. But a recent report indicates this Irving-to-New York chatter was all facilitated by Anthony Davis’ (and LeBron James’) agent Rich Paul, who allegedly was trying to scare off the Celtics from trying to trade for Davis this summer.
Jalen Rose, however, isn’t buying it. While agents certainly can be very powerful figures in professional sports, Rose doesn’t think it adds up.
As Rose and his co-host David Jacoby note, Irving leaving Boston likely wouldn’t prevent the franchise from making a run at Davis. If Danny Ainge truly envisions Davis as the next cornerstone of the Celtics, the president of basketball operations, as he’s done throughout his tenure, will try his damnedest to make the best move he sees fit.
It’s also important to keep Davis’ current contract in mind. The superstar big man has one year remaining on his deal beyond the 2018-19 campaign, so even if he was traded to the C’s this offseason and had no desire to sign on for the long haul, he could walk as a free agent in the summer of 2020. That said, Boston likely would need some type of assurance from Davis for the future before striking a deal of that magnitude.
The NBA is just about at its All-Star break, and we’re already up to our ears in rumors about the futures of a number of NBA stars. So yeah, buckle up. It’s only going to get crazier from here.
