Kyrie Irving laughs in face of trade rumors, opts-in with Nets

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Kyrie Irving has exercised his $36.5 million player option for the 2022-23 season and will stay with the Brooklyn Nets.

Throughout the offseason, NBA fans were following the Kyrie Irving-Brooklyn Nets situation, as reports indicated that contract discussions between both sides were going nowhere. Things only escalated when Irving provided a list of sign-and-trade destinations. As it turns out, Irving will not be leaving after all.

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Irving has exercised his $36.5 million player option for the 2022-23 season and will remain with the Nets.

Irving also provided a statement, which you can read in Charania’s tweet below:

Kyrie Irving opts-in, staying with Nets

Earlier in the day, ESPN senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported that out of all of the sign-and-trade destinations, only the Los Angeles Lakers were interested pursuing such a deal. However, the Nets had no interest in any of the packages the Lakers were asking for.

Wojnarowski followed up as the Irving news broke, saying that the Nets guard was unable to find a sign-and-trade deal.

Irving played in only 29 games this past season due to New York City’s vaccine mandate and being unvaccinated against COVID-19. He was later given an exemption alongside other athletes and performers this past March, allowing him to play at the Barclays Center.

In the regular-season, Irving averaged 27.4 points, 5.8 assists and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 46.9-percent from the field and 41.8-percent from the three-point line.

The Nets were swept in the first round by the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Boston Celtics.

With this news, Nets fans breathed a collective sigh of relief, meaning that the superteam will not be broken up this offseason.