Nets point guard Kyrie Irving has requested a trade and would like to be moved by the trade deadline on February 9, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports. If Irving isn’t traded, Charania reports he will not re-sign with the team in when he enters free agency this offseason.
In his fourth year with the team, Irving has played in 40 games for Brooklyn this year, averaging 27.1 points, 5.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game. The Nets currently have a 31–20 record, good enough for fourth place in the Eastern Conference and are just 5.5 games back of the No. 1 seeded Celtics.
The point guard first joined the Nets on a long-term deal in the summer of 2019, joining Kevin Durant in Brooklyn. Since then, however, he has caused more drama than expected with the team. Last year, Irving only played in 29 games largely due to being unvaccinated against COVID-19. Earlier this season, he was suspended by the team following his promotion of an antisemitic film and book on social media, and his failure to adequately apologize for the post.
