IRVING STAYING IN BROOKLYN; WALL LIKELY TO BE CLIPPER
Kyrie Irving will exercise his option for the final year of his deal with the Nets, largely ending speculation that he’d join LeBron James with the Lakers.
Signals had been sent over the past month about Irving’s interest in leaving the Nets for the Lakers after long-term contract talks with Brooklyn didn’t materialize.
The notion that Irving could even play for the tax-payer midlevel, a deal with $30 million less than what he opted into on Monday, got consistently floated in NBA circles.
While there was always skepticism about Irving’s ability to actually leave that money on the table, there was mutual interest between Irving and the Lakers in forging a partnership.
Over the past month, the idea has picked up significant steam within the organization. Team stars James and Anthony Davis have both spoken with Irving. Team executives have seriously weighed acquiring Irving. And the talk, which was originally thought to perhaps be a leverage play, had only gotten louder as the rift between Irving and the Nets has grown.
The clearest path to acquiring Irving would’ve required significant financial sacrifice from Irving, who could simply just sign with the Lakers in free agency. The team can currently offer the tax-payer mid-level exception projected to be around $6 million per season to a free agent.
In that case, the Lakers would then have needed to create cap space next offseason to sign Irving to a more lucrative contract.
It wasn’t discounted, in part, because of Irving’s unpredictability.
This scenario, while not impossible, became increasingly unlikely as the deadline for Irving to opt in or out of his deal approached. And in a move first reported by the Athletic, Irving decided to remain with the Nets when he opted in on Monday.
“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,” he told Shams Charania.
Irving could still be traded to the Lakers, though their leverage in the deal probably vanished once the threat of Irving signing with them outright disappeared.
A sign-and-trade, a transaction where a free agent signs with his former team and then is dealt to another, wouldn’t have worked because of the hard salary cap ceiling placed on teams who acquire players in that fashion.
However, the pathway for the Lakers, as well as 29 other teams, to acquire Irving via trade still exist.
Rockets to buy out Wall
John Wall and the Houston Rockets agreed that his contract will be bought out, a move that will free him to sign with any team of his choosing, two people with knowledge of the situation said Monday night.
Wall’s preference will be to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers, according to one of the people.
Wall will receive roughly $41 million from Houston, according to the other person. Wall was scheduled to make $47.4 million this coming season, his last in what was a four-year contract.
Yahoo first reported that Wall and the Rockets came to the buyout decision. ESPN first reported that Wall intends to join the Clippers, presumably for the taxpayer mid-level exception of about $6.4 million — basically the same amount he’s giving back to the Rockets to become a free agent. No agreement can be struck between Wall and any team until he clears waivers and becomes a free agent.
Wall played in 40 games with Houston in the 2020-21 season, averaging 20.6 points and 6.9 assists. He played his first nine seasons in Washington and, for his career, has averaged 19.1 points and 9.1 assists in 613 regular season games.
Wall did not appear in any games for Houston this past season. The Rockets are rebuilding around a young core, and Wall — who will turn 32 in September — wasn’t going to be in their plans going forward.