Latest NBA Intel: Kyrie Irving and Brooklyn Split – Bleacher Report

With the June 29 deadline for Kyrie Irving’s $36.9 million player option for the 2022-23 season fast approaching, the Brooklyn Nets and All-Star guard still have a lot to cover on both sides to hit the market of extension talks, sources told B/R. The Nets naturally prefer a shorter-term, incentive-laden deal that includes metrics like games played, sources said. Irving, after missing significant time due to injuries in recent seasons, has prioritized a longer-term contract.

But dialogue between Irving, his agency and Nets management is expected to be fluid in the run-up to his decision. Both sides seem willing to have ongoing talks about building together in Brooklyn, where the Nets can return to the championship-contending aspirations they had entering last campaign. After their playoff exit, Brooklyn officials are operating under the assumption that Irving, Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons will return to Barclays Center for the 2022-23 season.

In any negotiation, it’s fair for a player of Irving’s caliber to seek lucrative exit ramps. Word of Irving’s interest in the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks has been circulating among league personnel since the NBA draft in mid-May, but few team executives have given much credence to the chatter.

If Irving opts out of the ’22-23 season in hopes of being traded to Los Angeles, Brooklyn will have little incentive to negotiate with the Lakers, who will struggle to send commensurate value back to the Nets.

There is a way for Irving to decline his option and sign with New York as an unrestricted free agent. Part of the rumor surrounding the mutual interest between Irving and the Knicks is that head coach Tom Thibodeau is a fan of Irving. But New York would have to shed significant salary, sacrifice valuable cap space in the process, and still likely have to extend a contract or two to free up cap space to cover Irving’s nearly $40 million salary.

In forecasting their offseason deals, the Knicks are said to be targeting about $25 million in cap space so they can pursue Dallas Mavericks point guard Jaylen Brunson and are expected to find new homes for Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel, among other moves. Even if New York walks away from Brunson, who league personnel widely believe will return to Dallas, the Knicks will have a large cap space to fulfill Irving’s contractual wishes.

The Orlando Magic have emerged as a landing spot for teams to shed future salary at the expense of future draft picks, sources said. The Magic will have over $30 million in cap space once free agency begins. Other teams in the room like the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers could be viable options for the Knicks to unload contracts. But the Pistons and Pacers, sources said, have plans to pursue players in the restricted free agent market and are the only teams linked as potential threats to sign talented forward Miles Bridges from the Charlotte Hornets.

No league figure contacted by B/R expects Irving to play for a team outside of Brooklyn on a one-year, mid-level exception. It seems, and always has seemed clear, that Irving’s best case scenario for both lucrative earnings and championship contention is with the Nets.

Kenny Atkinson shocked Hornets management with his decision to return to the coaching staff of the Golden State Warriors instead of continuing with Charlotte on a four-year deal in principle. Atkinson had called Hornets staff and players in preparation for joining the franchise before this week’s draft, sources told B/R, and was in the advanced stages of assembling his own additions to the staff.

Contrary to Internet speculation, Atkinson’s decision does not say anything about Steve Kerr’s future in Golden State, sources said. There is no word from the Warriors that Kerr’s tenure will end anytime soon.

But for any new head coach, the Hornets intend to retain much of the staff — many of whom have a full season of guaranteed salary remaining on their contracts — from previous head coach James Borrego, sources said. Before Atkinson signed his contract, he and the Hornets were unable to reach financial agreements for his new assistants, sources said. Charlotte is known to be among the five lowest teams in the league in terms of coaching staff salaries.

Atkinson felt compelled to stay in Golden State, where he’ll slide into Kerr’s bench spot following the departure of assistant coach Mike Brown to the Sacramento Kings, and will challenge for another championship next season. Atkinson also won’t have to uproot his family for the third season in a row.

It’s unclear where Charlotte will turn for its next head coach. Many league officials pointed to the team’s other finalists for the position, Terry Stotts and Mike D’Antoni, as logical succession plans.

The Hornets can take their time. The Utah Jazz appear to be in no rush to accelerate their own head coaching search. But no other Charlotte candidate besides Atkinson has met with Hornets owner and chairman Michael Jordan, sources said. Maybe the Hornets will reboot their process entirely.

With the No. 1 pick Thursday night, league executives widely project Auburn forward Jabari Smith to be the Magic’s pick. Among Smith and fellow top prospects Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero, Smith and his representatives have long expressed the most enthusiasm to join the Magic, sources told B/R. The camps of Holmgren and Banchero have acted more willing to land elsewhere, according to league personnel familiar with both players.

While Holmgren visited Orlando, it is believed that the Gonzaga product and his representatives would prefer to land with the Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 2, as they believe the Thunder have a stronger infrastructure to support Holmgren’s development. Holmgren had only worked with Orlando and Oklahoma City during preliminary work, sources said. The same goes for Smith.

Banchero is known to be relishing the possibility of joining the Houston Rockets at No. 3, sources said, while members of his front office have not ruled out the possibility that the Duke freshman could end up in Oklahoma City. Banchero hails from Seattle and has several ties to Rockets general manager Raphael Stone, who is also a Seattle native. Banchero, sources told B/R, is further encouraged by potentially forming a scoring attack alongside Rockets sophomore guard Jalen Green, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft.

Banchero was scheduled to visit Orlando on Monday, but several figures close to the prospect remain skeptical that the Magic are seriously considering him as the top pick, sources said.

The Kings continue to receive a lot of trade interest for the No. 4 pick, where the Pacers, Knicks, San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards and others have made efforts to jump in the lottery. Of those teams, the Pacers and Spurs are believed to be targeting Iowa forward Keegan Murray, while New York and Washington have their sights set on Purdue guard Jaden Ivey.

Rival teams are primed for Sacramento to weigh in on any trade interests until the Kings begin play. If there is a surprise pick in the top three, Sacramento could receive a flurry of offers from teams that want one of the big stars in the class.

Several teams picking behind the Kings are also gearing up for Sacramento to select Murray if he stays at No. 4 and the first three picks pan out without surprises. The Pistons, sources said, have expressed strong confidence that Ivey will be available for them to pick at No. 5 if the Kings hold on.

• Teams picking behind the New Orleans Pelicans have painted them as a trade candidate, especially with OKC at No. 12 if the New Orleans staff’s priority targets aren’t still on the board at No. 8. Rivals believe Dyson Daniels and Benedict Maturin are the Pelicans top pick in this slot.
• The Rockets’ deal with the Mavericks, who sent Christian Wood for the No. 26 pick, can’t be completed until draft night, and there’s a good chance Houston will try to expand the deal by trading the No. 17 pick or making various other moves. There’s a chance the deal won’t be finalized until July 6, after the free agent moratorium.
• John Collins continues to be mentioned as the most likely trade candidate among the league’s veterans, and Collins and the Atlanta Hawks are believed to have mutual interest in finding him a new destination. Atlanta’s latest talks with Sacramento about Collins do not include the No. 4 pick, sources confirmed to B/R. The Hawks and Kings held talks about Collins before the trade deadline in February. Sacramento’s Harrison Barnes is considered a free agent.
• The Hornets are expected to weigh trade interest in Terry Rozier, PJ Washington, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Mason Plumlee before Bridges’ restricted free agency.