It’s almost time for one of the most-anticipated free agency periods in NBA history to begin.
Teams are legally able to reach out to free agent players and their agents starting on Sunday at 6 p.m. The Brooklyn Nets are prepared to be quite busy after that.
Kyrie Irving has been heavily linked with a move to the Nets, but there’s still the matter of D’Angelo Russell. Russell was the breakout star in Brooklyn last year, and now the team has reportedly made him a qualifying offer, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Sources: Brooklyn has extended a qualifying offer to All-Star free agent D’Angelo Russell, making him a restricted free agent.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania)
June 28, 2019 This is an expected move from general manager Sean Marks and company. Irving and Russell are both point guards, so there probably wouldn’t be room for both on the team. This qualifying offer gives the Nets the opportunity to match any offers that other teams propose to Russell. If Brooklyn is able to agree to a deal with Irving, then they can opt to rescind their offer to Russell.
Russell reportedly already has a meeting set with the Lakers for when free agency begins. Los Angeles was the team that initially drafted him second overall, before ultimately trading him to the Nets.
