Buckle up, folks. The NBA world is poised to be pretty crazy over the next few weeks.
NBA free agency officially kicks off Sunday night, and there will be no shortage of superstar talent available on the open market. And despite the free-agent pool consisting of the likes of Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson, one NBA “expert” believes Kyrie Irving, in fact, is the “key to free agency.”
Irving’s list of potential landing spots appears to be dwindled down to the pair of New York teams and the Los Angeles Lakers. But as ESPN’s Jorge Sedano notes, the most fascinating aspect of Irving’s free agency just might be the chain reaction.
“You can make the argument that Kyrie Irving is the key to free agency,” Sedano writes. “We all know how talented he is. That’s not debatable. Are there questions about how coachable he is and his lack of chemistry with teammates? Sure. His talent trumps all that in most cases. And the scuttlebutt that he could be the key to landing Kevin Durant adds a ton of intrigue.”
Irving and Durant long have been believed to be a package deal this offseason. A wrench might have been thrown in these plans via KD’s ruptured Achilles, which likely will sideline the two-time Finals MVP for the entire 2019-20 season. As such, a team in “win-now” mode might be hesitant to bring Durant on for a red-shirt year despite his standing as one of the league’s best. Conversely, some teams, reportedly like the Brooklyn Nets, only might be interested in signing Irving if Durant comes on board as well.
So yeah, it’s safe to say Irving is a player to keep an eye on as free agency unfolds.
