What If Kyrie Irving Joins The Brooklyn Nets.
Kyrie Irving may have played his last game at the TD Garden as a member of the Boston Celtics. The harsh reality for Boston fans is, Kyrie may no longer have any interest in playing at the TD Garden after this year's playoffs.
Many teams in the NBA are interested in Kyrie this off-season such as, the Lakers, Knicks, Clippers and even the Celtics despite the disappointing season that he displayed. However, the team that will be explored as the main possibility for Kyrie is the Brooklyn Nets.
Throughout 2019, speculations popped up everywhere for Kyrie as a Brooklyn Net. These speculations would come and go throughout the season depending on the success that the Celtics had during a weekly stretch. However, with the unfortunate inconsistency that the Celtics had throughout the season and especially in the playoffs, the speculations managed to grow at a much faster rate. Looking at the lack of enthusiasm and care that Kyrie displayed throughout the season begs the question if he can truly lead a team to a championship.
With the impatience that Kyrie displayed throughout the season, the only solution for Kyrie to win another championship is, developing patience. However, unlike Boston, the Brooklyn Nets are dealing with less talent which can give Kyrie and D’Angelo the main focus on any given play.
The Brooklyn Nets will have 54 million dollars to work within this upcoming free agency. With Kyrie making an All-NBA team this year, it allows the Nets to offer Irving a super-max contract. The Nets have one of the biggest markets in the NBA. Kyrie would have the opportunity to not only get a max deal but also play in an organization who has struggled to win anything in their franchise for the last 15 years. This can give Kyrie an opportunity to show the NBA as to why he wanted to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first place. Boston was a failed experiment for Kyrie Irving as there were lots of issues as well as rotational errors that prevented Boston from becoming the team they were sought out to be. However, what do the Nets have to offer for Kyrie other than the big market as well as the massive paycheck?
Currently, the Brooklyn Nets have built a solid foundation for what they want to do. Bringing in a player like D’Angelo Russell displayed their ambition for change. The Nets managed to do something incredible by building around with what they got. Players such as Spencer Dinwiddie, Jarrett Allen, Caris Levert, and even their up incoming young players being Rodions Kurucs and Dzanan Musa have all either been free agents or below the lottery. Spencer Dinwiddie is a prime example due to how he was treated earlier in his career. By him getting traded, it allowed him to use that energy as a boost to help him develop into one of the best sixth man players in this league. However, due to how guard orientated the Nets are, how would this help Kyrie in considering the Brooklyn Nets?
If Kyrie Irving decides to join the Brooklyn Nets the offence for this team could result in one of the best offensive back-courts in the entire NBA. With Kyrie only being 27 and Russell being 23, a potential dynasty can be born. With both Irving and Russell being known as offensive maestros, the offensive potential for this back-court is a scary thought to think about. However, Defensively the Nets back-court would be troublesome as both Kyrie and D'Angelo are not the best defenders. Despite the lack of defense, their offensive potential outweighs their defense by a huge number. Although the Nets would have an incredible offence, it is not the only factor that would attract Kyrie Irving into joining the Nets.
Brooklyn has one of the biggest markets in the NBA which can determine a lot of promise for this franchise. Unlike teams such as the Philadelphia 76ers, Utah Jazz, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets, OKC Thunder, and the San Antonio Spurs, they all have small markets. Those teams are all currently better than the Brooklyn Nets however, considering how big the Nets market is, the potential for building a dynasty is greater in Brooklyn than any of those teams. The reason for that is, most NBA stars or even All stars want to play for a big market organization who also has a chance to compete for a title. Brooklyn getting Kyrie would be that compelling piece in attracting various talented players. The Nets already have a good variety of talent which is an attractive attribute for a team to have when finding all-stars to commit with the organization. This factor helps with Kyrie’s chances to once again be a contender while playing for a big market, unlike Cleveland. Although the market is attractive, what else can the Nets provide for Kyrie?
The city of Brooklyn should be known as one of the most dedicated as well as a loyal fan base the NBA has. With the last 10 years being a complete disaster for the Nets, the fan base still managed to always ride with them no matter what circumstance they were in. This is an underrated point due to the fact that Brooklyn has been eager to find the next franchise player. Now although D’Angelo was an All-star this year and many fans would say that he is the franchise player, D’Angelo is not due to a number of reasons. D’Angelo has the reputation of being immature in the NBA as well as cannot lead a team, hence getting traded from the Lakers. Obviously now, D’Angelo has managed to be a great leader as he led the Nets to the playoffs which was unbelievable considering the Nets circumstance in the last 10 years. However, when it comes to his maturity, judging from his recent antics of smuggling marijuana, it is safe to say that he is still immature. Having a player such as Kyrie could improve on his maturity on how he views the game. Kyrie is also a bit immature when it comes to leadership as well as team perspective, however, when it comes to improving his art of the game, Kyrie is very mature. This can help D’Angelo become more mature in his skill set to become one of the best offensive guards in the league. D’Angelo is already one of the best offensive players in the NBA however, he could also improve on his decision making when running an offensive play.
Overall, this move for Kyrie has the potential to be promising. What Kyrie needs to understand is, where ever he decides to go, success cannot happen right away. One reason out of the vast selection of reasons that his time with the Celtics was a complete disaster is due to how highly he felt about the team. The reality is, although the Celtics did make the conference finals last year, it does not determine the rest of the rebuild for Boston. With Gordon Hayward being injured last year too, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown being young up incoming players, the Celtics had high expectations going into this season despite not playing like a healthy unit. This year, fans got to see this due to this year being the first year of having a healthy roster. Boston had a lot of talent that should not be ignored, however, had too much talent to execute anything. This is relevant due to the number of times throughout this season that Kyrie expressed lots of impatience. Kyrie’s time with the Celtics should be a lesson for him as he lacked patience. If Kyrie Decides on joining the Brooklyn Nets, he would need to be patient in order to be a contender. At the same time, the organization needs to bring in other talents in order to keep their star player happy.
Although the Nets are a good team, they don’t have enough pieces even with Kyrie to defeat the juggernauts of the east such as the Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors (if Kawhi resigns), and the Milwaukee Bucks. However, with the Nets being a big market destination for NBA players, the Nets will either sign good rotational players or even do a trade or two to get the job done. General Manager Sean Marks has managed to construct a playoff team out of nothing which is scary to think about as he now has pieces he can trade away to make the organization better.
The Nets have the potential to become a dynasty with Kyrie. Signing Irving would be the first step into creating one of the best offensive orientated teams in the NBA. That attribute is attractive enough for many players in the NBA as they would be playing under one of the better offences in the league.
Defensively, however, the Nets would not be terrible either due to Jarrett Allen and how well he defends the paint. Other players such as DeMarre Carroll, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson are both good defenders however are probably not going to continue with the Nets as they would either get traded or would fall to free agency. The potential balance that this team would possess would be attractive enough to bring in other all-stars or potentially another star to this team.
Kyrie Irving should consider the Brooklyn Nets as he has the opportunity to not only be a contender but the face of the franchise. Brooklyn has a lot to offer to Kyrie from having a big market too, possessing a great supporting cast including All-star D’Angelo Russell.
This free agent destination for Kyrie Irving would resurrect the antics he displayed this season and would help his argument on leaving Cleveland as he wants to be an MVP caliber player. Kyrie leading Brooklyn to a high seed would allow him to execute his goal. With the struggles that Brooklyn faced over the last 10-15 years, it is safe to say that the Nets deserve redemption as they have suffered for too long. Although the other team in New York being the Knicks is still struggling to find anything, the Nets have an opportunity to become Dynasty in the NBA with Kyrie Irving.