Kyrie Irving has not played a game since June 13 and as a new calendar year approaches, there’s no indication that he plans to change his stance on vaccination and become eligible to return. Without him, the Nets have been forced to figure things out on the court and at this point, now it’s starting to really get tempting on if Brooklyn should pull the trigger on a trade for another third star.
In Bleacher Report’s latest trade suggestion, things don’t get more tempting than this.
“I know this trade is as galaxy-brained as Kyrie Irving’s YouTube search history. It sends D’Angelo Russell back to the Nets less than three years after he left as part of the sign-and-trade that landed them Kevin Durant, reuniting him with a team that needs another ball-dominant scorer like it needs an extra hole in the head.
But don’t you think Brooklyn might prefer a point guard who, you know, is actually going to play? When you frame Irving-for-Russell as a nothing-for-something exchange, it at least brushes up against plausibility on the Nets’ side.”
B/R writer Grant Hughes raises a good point. Having Irving as a third star is plausibly enough to win a championship. But if Irving refuses to become eligible, Russell would undoubtedly be valuable to the Nets.
Not only would Russell be willing to play and finish off the season with the team, but he’s still young, going on to 26-year-old in February. To put the icing on the cake, Russell is one of those premier guards that elevates his game in clutch moments, which can help take some pressure off of Kevin Durant and James Harden when it comes down to it.
On the season, the former Buckeye averages 19 PPG and 6.4 APG on 38% shooting from the field and 32% accuracy from three.