As Nets, Irving situation becomes “acrimonious” other teams prep plans for Durant trade

Kyrie Irving sees himself as one of the game’s elite players, one deserving of a four- or five-year max contract. Brooklyn Nets management — after watching Irving play 103 of 226 games over three seasons and not seem fully committed to the franchise — don’t want to extend him past a couple of years. Nets owner Joe Tsai has backed the hardline stance (at least so far).

What started as public negotiation tactics between the sides has now gotten much more personal and tense, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on the NBA Today (hat tip Real GM).

“This is getting acrimonious,” said Wojnarowksi of the talks. “I think that’s the concern when you look at not only Kyrie Irving’s future in Brooklyn, but Kevin Durant‘s future and whether they can hold this thing together right now.”

When Irving gave the Nets a list of other places he wanted to play — or at least made that list public —  it was a sign this negotiation had crossed the Rubicon and there may be no turning back.

Other teams have taken notice and quietly started to plan for Kevin Durant trades, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on The Lowe Post podcast.

“Teams are already operating under the, not the assumption, but we need to prepare for the contingency Kevin Durant is available via trade in six days, or seven days.”

Everyone involved seems to be taking stock of their relationship and deciding if they want to continue it into the future.

One overlooked angle in all this is Nets owner Tsai firing the team’s CEO over mounting financial losses for the franchise. While Tsai can be frustrated with ticket sales and sponsorship revenue not being as high as he expects or wants, the Nets will have an estimated $98 million luxury tax bill this season for their player payroll, the second highest