There seems to be some uncertainty regarding Kyrie Irving’s future with the Brooklyn Nets.
General manager Sean Marks spoke to reporters on a number of issues Wednesday morning and was non-committal when asked about Irving’s long-term future with the Nets.
“That’s something we’ll be discussing and debrief on and discuss throughout the offseason,” Marks said. “It’s not just Kyrie, we’ll have decisions to make on a variety of free agents throughout our roster. We haven’t had any discussions yet so it would be unfair for me to comment on how it looks with us and Kyrie and, to be quite frank, he has some decisions to make on his own. He has to look at what he’s going to do with his player option and so forth like that.
“But I think we know what we’re looking for: We’re looking for guys that want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, play team basketball, and be available. That goes not only for Kyrie, but everybody here.”
The latter part of that comment is perhaps the most telling.
Irving was not available, by his own choice, for much of the season because he refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine, which was mandated by NYC law for private companies to enforce its employees to receive the shot.
While Irving will most likely opt into the final year of his contract (he has said he does not plan on going anywhere) the Nets may be reluctant to give the 30-year-old All-Star a long-term extension.
Marks attempted to speak in generalities about the situation, but it certainly adds intrigue that he would not definitively say he envisions a long-term future with Irving on the team.
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