With the New York Knicks just completing a blockbuster trade that sent Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks, the talk has surrounded the organization and their plans for this summer. The franchise has cleared enough cap room to bring in two max players to the team and speculation is running rampant on who that could be.
One of the names being thrown around for a while has been Kevin Durant, though that may depend on what happens with the Golden State Warriors at the end of the year.
The other has been Kyrie Irving, but his situation in Boston with the Celtics seems like something he wouldn’t leave, barring a huge development. He can always opt-out of his deal and test the market in July.
You can argue that both are players that shouldn’t leave their current deals because they’re on championship contenders, though players have other motives nowadays and want to accomplish things differently than we may think.
When asked about his free agency, Kyrie had this to say to reporters:
“At the end of the day, I’m going to do what’s best for my career, and that’s just where it stands. That’s just where it stands. And my focus this season is winning a championship with the Boston Celtics. Obviously, we had goals coming into the season, and the primary goal is to win a championship. So that’s where my focus is.
Ask me July 1”
As much as that sounds great for the present moment, Irving is leaving the future up in the air and Celtics fans should be a little worried.
Kyrie has stated in the past he’d love to stay in Boston long-term if they’d have him, but we’ve seen Danny Ainge do away with players (even when they’re beloved) for the betterment of the organization. Could he let Irving walk in free agency? Would he trade him to get Anthony Davis in the summer?
The plot is thickening and it doesn’t help that the C’s play the Knicks tonight.