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And now, The Low Post. Welcome to The Low Post podcast on Friday afternoon. And oh my God, we didn't expect to be doing an extra podcast. But lo and behold...
The other shoe always lurking somewhere, somewhere over the Barclays Center, always lurking. Oh, there it is. It dropped. And Kyrie Irving, according to Woj and others, has requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets about two weeks after celebrating the fact that the Nets no longer had any halfway in players in their locker room as they
The implication being they had halfway in players, James Harden in their locker room. The last time Kevin Durant got injured in the whole franchise was upended. Bobby Marks. I think the lesson here is Kevin Durant just can never get injured. Every time he gets injured, it's just complete madness at all times. And now we are 20. Let's see. January 8th. How many days ago is that?
26 days ago? Yeah. The Nets had just won 18 out of 20 games. Rolling, destroying everybody, even though Ben Simmons was still a shell of himself. Everything was great. 26 days later, they faced the possibility of... And you need to get notes to talk about what's happened to the Brooklyn Nets in the last two years. They faced the possibility of trading all their good young players and picks for James Harden, and then trading James Harden for a player who...
currently either doesn't play or doesn't do much when he does play and they got a couple extra picks for their trouble in doing that maybe trading Kyrie Irving for like what's lower than pennies on the dollar I don't even know I don't actually don't even know if it's pennies on the dollar when you consider how unreliable and unavailable Kyrie Irving is and maybe it's pennies on the pennies I don't know and then if that return goes poorly then
As confident as Kevin Durant is in himself and his ability to lift any roster of committed competent players to high levels, uh,
At some point, the talent drain would become such that the final and most dramatic shoe to drop, the shoe that everyone has been waiting, that everyone around the league is talking about as we speak, is Kevin Durant renewing his trade request at some point indefinitely down the line. I don't think we're there yet, but it is remarkable. All three of these guys, Harden, Kyrie, and KD have requested trades in like a not very long period of time. I don't know. What do you got, Bobby? This is just like it's...
Again, we're 26 days removed from his Jacques Vaughn going to maybe be the first in-season replacement to win coach of the year. He pushed all the right buttons. The Nets are rolling. Everyone's scared of them again. And now here we are after, I think, pointedly contract extension talks between the Nets and carving didn't go the way Kyrie Irving would like them to go. I don't think any other team is going to give him a deal that's going to be like that much to his liking. But what do you got to say for me?
Yeah. I mean, I, I always say like nothing should surprise me in the league, but at two o'clock when you, when that comes across, it actually did catch me off guard a little bit here because it really hadn't been, you know, signs, right? Like basically we'd heard about the extension, um, from his, uh, from his agent, who's also his step-mom that they were willing to play ball. Um,
from Brooklyn's perspective, they were willing to either play out the year or maybe get an extension on their terms here. He's extension eligible four years, one 98. That's the number. I did not see Brooklyn going in that direction. It was only a week ago last Saturday against the Knicks where he was tremendous, right? Like he's been good and we throw out that Boston game, you know, the blowout here. I mean, he's, he's, you know,
He's played at an all-star level, but it was, as I always said, it's been a show me year, right? This is a show me year that you, we just, you know, there should be a long-term marriage and a commitment. And I thought we were heading there. You mentioned Durant, which is interesting because eventually like we were going to get to a point, right? Like if Kyrie Irving was either going to be on his roster and a new contract in July, or he wasn't,
And then what's the next domino, right? Because you look at the Brooklyn roster, right? Like I can make an argument for Durant saying, you know what? Kyrie's gone. I've got Ben Simmons. You know, I got Ben Philadelphia, Ben Simmons. I don't, I don't even have a rotate. I don't even have a,
I don't even know if I'll have a starter in Ben Simmons right now. And if I'm Kevin Durant and we'll see how this all plays out. And if Irving's not here, I'm looking at Ben Simmons, Joe Harris, Nick Claxton, Cam Thomas, Royce O'Neal, Patty Mills, De'Ron Sharp. And I'm over to salary cap. This coming summer. Yeah. That's coming summer. Someone said on NBA today, or I don't know. Someone said somewhere today when I was listening. Well, you know, I think it was, yeah, it was on NBA today.
Well, they can retool with cap room. They use this cap slot this summer. They don't have cap room. It's two summers from now. Now, unless they just start dumping everyone every which way, which is hard to do because there's only one team right now that has cap room, and that's the Spurs. There's always the summer to be able to do that. But yeah, there's no retool. That's the team. And remember, again, as I said, Kevin Durant is Kevin Durant.
Like he knows who he is. He knows what he can do. He also is not that far removed from kind of in a backhanded way that I think didn't come off the way he meant it. Remember that interview he gave where he was like, I'm out here with like Edmund Sumner and so-and-so and so-and-so and so-and-so. And like, we're, it's, it's kind of getting hard. Like, well, that could be life. That could be life because we can sit here and go through the deals, Bobby Kyrie Irving for Russell Westbrook and a pick Kyrie Irving and Joe Harris or whatever for us. We're going to pick it.
That's not helpful to me as Kevin Durant. Kyrie Irving for Tim Hardaway Jr. and Christian Wood on an expiring deal, that's not super helpful for me as Kevin Durant. Who knows if Christian Wood's even going to be on the team next year? Russell Westbrook probably won't be on the team next year. I don't know where the hell Russell Westbrook will be. And by the way, this is where I'll lead you. If you asked me right now, I would probably take Dallas and the Lakers over the field.
For likely Kyrie destinations with, with a couple of teams that make me wonder, but I think those two have to come in as if this actually happens, those are the favorites, right? Yeah, I would say so. I mean, like Miami doesn't make sense for me from Brooklyn's perspective. Cause what does Kyle Lowry on another year do for you? Right. Like, and because like my concern with,
these, you know, taking back money is now Durant asked out this summer. Now we're stuck with like, Whoa, now we got this guy under contract here. And so, you know, like Minnesota, you know, we threw it through Minnesota. Like what does D'Angelo Russell Nasri do for you? Right. Like, does that do anything for you? Why would Minnesota, right? Like I also, I saw you throw that out and I'm like, why am I doing that? If I'm Minnesota,
This is Anthony Edwards team now already, right? Like I even think D'Angelo Russell, who's having the best shooting year of his career has kind of accepted like this is Anthony Edwards team. We'll see what Carl Anthony Towns thinks about it when he comes back. But Anthony Edwards maybe deserves to make the all-star team. And D'Angelo Russell actually as a spot up hybrid guard is a pretty good fit next to number one ball handler, Anthony Edwards, right?
I, why am I upending that for Kyrie Irving? I know D'Angelo Russell's a free agent to be this summer. Maybe Minnesota is not totally in love with him as the answer, this new regime. Um, but like, I don't think the market for D'Angelo Russell is going to be like a bonanza. I think they can say, we might be able to resign him on like a four year, a hundred, a hundred, $10 million deal. He's fine. We'll live with it. Now you do run into the option that you've probably been through. This is in the front office. It's like the jail and Brunson thing. Um,
Is it does the hometown team, the incumbent team have to kind of outbid the market or is there going to be resentment that you made me go out there and get offers and and didn't take care of me ahead of time? I don't know. But if I'm Minnesota, I'm like, why am I not? Why? Why don't I just do that? Why am I upending my team for Kyrie Irving?
Who I'm sorry. Anyway, continue. Yeah, no, no, no. It makes sense because like, unless you're, if you're willing to commit three or three or four years to Kyrie Irving, it makes no sense. Right? Like it doesn't like, what is like, what does he like? Do you say four years? Dude, it's been four years. How have the last four years gone? I had to write a five on five and chrono and go through the last four years. I mean, it's exhausting. It's exhausting. Just writing about it.
I mean, everything. I mean, even like Zach, I mean, like we could even go back to, I don't want to talk a lot about, but 2019, 20, the year that Durant was going, was out. Like, I remember that Philadelphia game when he gave that press conference, whether the, in the hallway where he basically questioned Sean Mark saying, I don't think there's enough talent around. Like that's where it all started. And every year it's been drama enough with the drama. The best, the best all timer to me was when he talked about how, I think it was after they got swept last year. Right.
by Boston that me and Kevin and Joe and Sean are going to manage the franchise together. It's like manage the franchise. How about playing for the franchise? Like consistently before we start getting into like managing the franchise, I don't mean to, I don't mean to sort of go off here, but you know, we were on the show today and Tristan Thompson, who's been on the show this week doing really well.
Was like, well, Kyrie's really bought in lately. Like, I understand why Kyrie's holding out for the most extent, most money possible. Like, what do you want the owners to get the money? And I totally sympathize with that. Give the players the money. But and he kept using the term bought in. I'm like, bought in. You don't get to play for like three straight weeks.
And say you've bought in. Like, that's just not how it works. There's no world... I would be blown to smithereens if any team trades for Kyrie Irving and promises him as part of that trade, we'll guarantee minimum three years. At least three years fully guaranteed. At least. I don't see it. I mean, I would be hesitant even if a team...
If he's traded, the trade bonus, I've talked about it. If he's traded and he's still eligible, it's two years, $78 million, $78 and change. Maybe I would do two years. That's probably the number, I guess, maybe.
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What do the Lakers even offer? Like do the Lakers, if you're Rob Palenka, do you offer both the picks? No. Okay. So if the answer is no, and I agree with you, the answer should be no. I just can't, I can't mortgage everything for, for a guy whose reliability has been under fair scrutiny. So if the Lakers don't offer both first round picks, if you're Sean Marks and the offer is Russ and one pick,
Do you do it or do you just say, screw it? We're playing it out. Like that's just not worth it to us. We're playing it out.
I mean, I would probably play it out. I don't think it's worth it to you because you're just going to let Westbrook expire. And now he becomes a free agent. And now you're, I mean, Irving gives you a, unless like basically Kyrie just sits out the rest of the year. Right. I mean, like that's the only, like if he, if he goes to that way, but Irving on the roster, if he continues to play and I know we will have the whole drama of the trade stuff gives you a better chance to,
Because I think this is going to be it, Zach, as this team constructed gives them at least one more chance with Durant on the roster compared to where Russell Westbrook is. Even if that even if the threat is for him to leave as a free agent. And then where are you going? I mean, where are you going as a free agent? I mean, I put out the teams that have room. I know teams can can create room and they're signing trades and all that stuff. We're going to go to Houston.
You're going to go down there? Are they going to pay $36 million to play with Jalen Green? Is that what they want to do? So I think for me, and there's such a little bit of a discrepancy too with Westbrook and Irving's salary. Something else has got to come back because you're taking on some money tax-wise from Brooklyn, but
If I'm not getting, you know, I mean, it's got to make sense for me to do the deal or I'm going to call his bluff and let's play out the season. Which they did with Durant. Now, the difference is they had years with Durant and they also had a player who I think they were confident he's going to play. Kevin Durant's a pro and he's going to play.
By the way, it seems like ancient history, but it was only June 2022, the glory years of 2022, way back when. So whatever months ago, when remember the Kyrie opt-in, opt-out drama was at the center of the league. And I'm looking at the Woj story right now. Kyrie submitted this list of teams that he'd be willing to accept a sign and trade to,
In the event that he opted out of 36 million and the Nets were to trade him. And here's the line, the lead of Voja story outside of the Los Angeles Lakers. There are currently no known teams planning to pursue sign and trade deals for Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving. And what happened a day later? He opted in because the market was completely dried up. Now, in some ways, it's almost smarter to do it now on his part, because you do have teams in the middle of the season who are disappointed, desperate,
reaching and maybe one of them reaches in his direction. I just don't know who the team is, if it's not Dallas or the Lakers. And I don't know that those teams are going to offer me enough that I just don't say screw it. Now I have to have a meeting with Durant though. If I'm the, if I'm the Nets, I need to sit down with Durant and just take his temperature on all of this because ultimately Bobby is
All the noise, all the drama is always around Kyrie and before that Harden and currently Simmons. The guy here who really moves the league is Durant. That's the end game that actually matters. That's what all the vultures have been circling overhead since they got eliminated from the playoffs last year is what's going to happen with Durant. Yeah, and I think if you take Durant's temperature, he's probably going to say, let's get through the season and we'll talk about in the offseason where this roster is.
And that's probably, that's the Durant position. You mentioned Miami. This does coincide, speaking of teams that are kind of getting antsy mid-season, with a series of games with Kyle Lowry has been benched late in games and in crunch time and has just one of five, two of six every game. That's interesting. Yeah.
Don't know that they want to. I don't I don't know what it's this just happened. I don't have like really super hard Miami Intel. You outlined what the offer would be and why it not might not be appealing to the Nets. The Clippers have been mentioned. So my take all along about the Clippers who have been linked to both Russ and Kyrie is like, what if point guards?
Everything I've heard for a year is leading me to say, I would be very, very surprised if the Clippers actually dipped their toe into this Kyrie Irving situation. Maybe that'll change if Kawhi goes to them and says, do this or else or whatever. I just don't get the sense that they have the appetite for it. Yeah. I mean, I don't either. I mean, like they're not training Terrence Mann. I mean, it's like, it's basically like, I mean, I don't even know, like,
Covington, Kennard, and Fillers, right? And that's kind of what you're staring at. If you're, you know, what the Clippers have to offer. You're not trading the first-round pick, not for basically a three-month rental. I don't think the intent is to re-sign him long-term here. And, you know, for Brooklyn, what are those two players? We're going back to the whole thing. You know, both guys have length past this season, right?
Right. Like, does that make sense if you eventually have to get to the position where Durant has moved? So I just I mean, yeah, they've got the they've got all the contracts, but I just I don't I don't see it with the Clippers. I'm not going to do the fake Durant trades. We've all done that. That's for another day. We've all done that already several times. I mean, you can speak to this.
The league, big, massive things like going from Kyrie Domino to KD Domino, that doesn't often happen in six-day spans, right? Like, I just don't see all of it exploding before this coming trade deadline. Not with the, you know, that's just why it's so much easier in the offseason to do deals, right? There's no clock. There's a clock. I mean, we're staring at six days here and
You know, it's one thing with Irving and then it's another thing with Durant. And you're basically like in the bigger deals happening in the offseason here, because as we always say, there's always going to be one or two teams that are disappointed how their season ends and are willing to give up more on July 1st compared to February 9th. And more people are in play. Just more. There's more.
Again, because then the other thing too, like you texted me with like, you know, the seven year rule with draft picks. Right. So now 2000, she's 2030, 2030 now becomes involved. Right. Because now teams can add more draft picks. Right. There's more flexibility there. It's just stunning that they could be left here with Ben Simmons and a couple of picks. And Ben Simmons, by the way, either scores single digits or doesn't or is a late scratch every game.
Whatever they get for Kyrie, whatever that is. And then Durant sitting there like, whoa. It's just a stunning turn of events considering that I will always go back to the late 2021 season and early playoffs when they had Harden, Kyrie, and Durant. They looked unbeatable. They had actually built the team that was worth trading all the cap space and all the picks for. And it just fell apart. I mean, the Harden hamstring injury
early in the Milwaukee series is one of the great, on the first play, is one of the great sort of what if moments. And I know that he had injured it before that and then he came back. If that team is healthy, I think that's a championship team. And so it's easy to sit here and laugh at the Nets and say, you all, they should have known these combustible personalities. Like they look like they had done it,
And by the same token, if they're forced to rebuild from a very disadvantageous position where other teams control all their draft picks, they've done that before too, this front office has. But it's just the way Simmons has played makes this so much more painful because the hope was, you mentioned Philadelphia, Ben Simmons. The hope was he'd be a good player again. And right now he's not a trade asset really.
Just a stunning turn of events. I'm actually just very interested to see how it unfolds and who, if anybody, decides to offer the Nets something that the Nets deem worth their while for Kyrie. Yeah, I mean, I think Dallas would probably offer like Hardaway and something else, right? I would think, right? Just to get off that money, you know, there. But what does that, I mean, it goes back to like, what does it do for Brooklyn, right? Well, you got to throw a pick in, right? Yeah, and you got to throw a pick in there. So it's...
It is. It's like deja vu of like late June, right? We're the night of the draft when all this broke loose, but we're only we're now we're in season in season is a lot more harder. I'm just fascinated. And I know we're four months or five months away from here. Is that what team is willing to commit to Irving long-term, not just one year long-term the perfect he's the ultimate he's a max player one year.
Not three, four. He's a one-year max player. And again, it's too early to talk about the Durant stuff because as I said, he's Kevin Durant. He knows what he can do. And I think – I don't know what Kevin Durant is thinking. But I've hinted and said on this podcast before, I don't necessarily think that they're tethered together the way they used to be. And so I think there is a universe where –
he looks around at whatever happens in the next six months and said, okay, I'm cool with this. I chose this team. I'm cool with it. It's just hard today to see the transactions that get you there. But we've got a lot of time to do that. Bobby Marks, thanks for hopping on at the last minute. It's going to be a wild six days and then it'll be a wild few months and it'll be an even wilder week in July. Enjoy the ride, I guess. I thought we were just going to be talking about Jared Vanderbilt trades next week. No. Yeah. I think Jared Vanderbilt stays in the sun of have expired. Bobby Marks. Thank you, sir. Thanks, Zach.