For now, at least, it seems like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant still want to play together — but there are plenty of wrinkles.
We’ve heard for what feels like years about Irving and Durant’s desire to join up this summer when both were able to enter free agency. They now have the chance to do so, and they’re reportedly working to get that done, although it sounds as if it’s far from a certainty.
Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher dropped plenty of interesting tidbits Monday in a story outlining the plans for Irving and Durant. It still sounds very much like Irving plans to sign with the Brooklyn Nets, and according to Bucher, he’s trying to convince Durant to join him. Bucher writes that Irving is “pressing” Durant to join him in Brooklyn, and he also hopes to recruit big man DeAndre Jordan in order to give them a big three that would have looked much more formidable four or five years ago than it might today.
But getting Durant to Brooklyn is easier said than done. Durant has his own decisions to make not to mention the elephant in the room: He’s just beginning a year-long rehab after rupturing his Achilles in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. He theoretically could opt into the final season of his contract, but it seems more likely he elects free agency and still signs an enormous contract with a built-in “redshirt” year so to speak. Durant has long been tied to the New York Knicks, which is another hurdle for Irving to clear.
According to Bucher, the two players have met twice recently to discuss their future plans, and Bucher writes that the duo has been “plotting for weeks, if not months, to continue their careers on the same team.”
If Irving is set on joining the Nets, and Durant has his eyes on Madison Square Garden, something will have to give in the next week, as the NBA dives into a potentially league-altering offseason.
