Second coming
Butler heat surge after halftime to top celts in Game 1 Nets weighing Kyrie options
Nets general manager Sean Marks said the team hasn’t had conversations with Kyrie Irving yet about the mercurial star guard’s contract, adding they’ll see if staying together is “the right fit.”
Marks met with the media last week, and also recorded an interview that aired on YES Network on Monday. He addressed Irving’s $36.9 million player option for next season, and the fact the AllStar can commit to the Nets long term, become a free agent next year or even hit free agency this summer if he chooses.
Talks between Irving, Marks and
Nets owner Joe
Tsai have yet to happen.
“I look forward to [it],” Marks told YES Network. “We have not had a conversation yet. So I look forward to getting in a room with him and Joe and his team, and we will. We’ll see what it looks like for Kyrie moving forward here, and what he needs from us and so forth.
“So, again, it wouldn’t be right for me to comment on what hypothetical could happen, because we don’t know. We haven’t had those conversations with Kyrie yet. But when they do, we’ll see if it’s the right fit for both sides.”
Irving has been ubiquitous since the start of the 2021-22 season, even when he was nowhere to be found on the court. It’s a growing concern not just between Irving and the Nets, but between the NBA and its stars such as Irving, Ben Simmons and James Harden.
The refusal to adhere to New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates essentially cost Irving 53 games and likely contributed to the Nets’ early exit from the playoffs.
“You want people here to be part of something bigger than themselves. It’s a team sports team game. It’s not individuals,” Marks said. “We want people to be here for the right reasons, and buy into their roles, find their roles, high-character guys.
“We want to avoid the drama, we want to avoid the distractions.”
The problem is drama and distractions are part and parcel with Irving. He has missed 123 of 226 regularseason games since he signed with the Nets in July 2019, from shoulder surgery to personal leave to his refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
But what does that mean for the Nets?
Irving could opt out and leave. He is eligible for a four-year, $182.1 million deal elsewhere, per Spotrac. But the Pistons, Magic, Pacers, Spurs, Trail Blazers, and Thunder are the only teams with ample cap room, so Irving opting out seems unlikely.
And considering he would be leaving up to $63.5 million on the table by leaving, a sign-and-trade seems equally improbable. A return to Brooklyn seems a fait accompli.
If Irving opts out, he would be eligible for a fouryear, $189.7 million extension or even a five-year, $245.6 million deal, with only the Nets able to offer him the fifth year. If he picks up his option, he could ink extensions of either three or four years, picking up in 2023-24, but that would require leaving more than $5 million on the table next season.
The Nets should be expected to try to protect themselves, either with a shorter deal or baked-in incentives. Irving’s current four-year, $136 million deal contains a total of $4.3 million in incentives, per Spotrac, with $3 million of that so-called “unlikely bonuses.”
It’s likely the Nets would try to have a bigger chunk of the contract consist of those unlikely bonuses. Even if Irving and the players’ association push back, stars skipping games is a trend the NBA is bent on addressing in the next collective bargaining agreement.
MIAMI — His team was down by eight at halftime, so Heat coach Erik Spoelstra went into the locker room ready to deliver a big speech.
As it turns out, one wasn’t needed. Jimmy Butler decided to let his play do the talking.
Butler scored 27 of his 41 points in the second half, and the Heat’s huge third quarter carried them to a 118-107 win over the shorthanded Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night.
“Jimmy Butler is an elite competitor,” Spoelstra said. “There’s a lot of guys in this league that are playing basketball. He’s competing to win. That’s a totally different thing, and he does that as well as anybody in this league.”
Tyler Herro scored 18 and Gabe Vincent added 17 for the Heat, who outscored Boston 39-14 in the third quarter. Butler had 17 points in the third, outscoring the Celtics by himself over those 12 minutes.
Boston, which led by as many as 13 points in the first half, shot 2-for-15 in that third quarter.
“We won three quarters other than that, but obviously that one is going to stand out,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. “We semi-bounced back in the fourth and started to play well again and matched their physicality, but 39-14 on 2-for-15 is tough to overcome.
“It wasn’t anything different that they did. They just came out and imposed their will.”
Along with the 41 points, the rest of Butler’s line: nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocked shots. Since the NBA started charting all those stat categories, only five other players — Anthony Davis, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Harden (who did it twice) — had all those numbers in a single game. None happened in a playoff game, until now.
“I continued to play basketball the right way: Shoot the ball when I’m open, attack, hit the open guy,” Butler said. “Honestly, it was a team effort.”
Max Strus scored 11 and Bam Adebayo added 10 for Miami.
Jayson Tatum scored 29 for the Celtics, who were without starters Marcus Smart (foot) and Al Horford (health and safety protocols).
Smart’s absence was somewhat expected because of a mid-foot sprain he suffered in Game 7 of the East semifinals against Milwaukee on Sunday.
Horford’s absence was a surprise. He entered the league’s health and safety protocols Tuesday afternoon, which could keep him out for multiple games. Game 2 is Thursday.
Jaylen Brown added 24 for Boston, which got 18 apiece from Robert Williams III and Payton Pritchard.
Boston took a 62-54 lead into halftime, but Miami started the second half with a 22-2 run, punctuated by steals that led to baskets on three consecutive possessions. Strus had one, the next two by Butler pushed the lead out to 76-64, and the Heat were off and running.
“Other than the third quarter, I think we won every other quarter,” Pritchard said. “Obviously, we try not to let that happen next time.” —AP