Kyrie Irving Has Made A Decision: Will He Stay Or Will He Go?

Brooklyn Nets fans have been watching and waiting to get confirmation on whether star player, Kyrie Irving and the Nets would come to an agreement or if Irving would be requesting a trade. After plenty of trade rumors hit the Internet, it's finally been decided that the 2016 NBA champion is opting into his player option to remain on the team for the 2022-23 season.

The deadline for a decision on whether Irving, 30, was going to pick up his $36.5 million player option was set for June 29, but the news broke of his decision two days early. He was originally seeking a long-term deal, but it's been reported that the Nets did not want to entertain that option. Irving told The Athletic, "Normal people keep the world going, but those who dare to be different lead us into tomorrow. I've made my decision to opt in. See you in the fall. A11even."

Irving was considering the options if he left Brooklyn and had a list of teams he would want the Nets to consider with a sign-and-trade if they couldn't come to terms with a mutual deal to stay. Sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski that the only team known to be interested in a trade involving Irving was the Los Angeles Lakers, but the Nets had no interest in any of the packages the Lakers were looking for. Irving decided on the player option since there wasn't a viable sign-and-trade deal. He is now no longer eligible for a sign-and-trade deal, but the Nets could still work to trade him as an expiring contract. Although, at that point Irving would not have a voice in a potential landing spot.

Not wanting to sign the point guard to a long-term deal had nothing to do with his on-court talent. The issue was with his reliability. In his three years as a Nets player, Irving played 103 regular season games. He missed 123 games due to injury, refusal to get the Covid-19 vaccine, and personal reasons. Because of the vaccine refusal, Irving wasn't able to play home games in Brooklyn during most of the 2021-22 season because of a city vaccination mandate for employees.  It wasn't until March that he was given an exemption allowing him to play at the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets.

From an early age, Irving knew he wanted to play professional basketball. Irving played for Duke University before heading to the NBA draft in 2011. He was selected as the first overall pick for the Cleveland Cavaliers and ended up being named the 2011 NBA Rookie of the Year, getting 117 out of 120 first place votes. In 2017, Irving requested a trade and went to the Boston Celtics, and then joined the Nets in 2019. He's a seven-time All Star, three-time All-NBA selection, who averaged 27.1 points and six assists while shooting 49% from the field over the last three seasons.