Kyrie Irving: Where Will He Be Traded? NBA Odds, Prediction

And the saga that is Kyrie Irving’s career in the NBA takes another turn. As most people who follow sports know, just after 2 PM ET on Friday, Feb. 3, news broke out from multiple reputable sources that the Brooklyn Nets star has asked the organization’s brass to deal him away by next Thursday’s trade deadline.

As always, check out our NBA odds for games, player props, and NBA futures.

How Did We Get Here?

The relationship between the Nets franchise and the idiosyncratic point guard has been fraught with ups and downs. Frankly, some who follow the team closely would argue that there have been more low points than high ones. No need to dig up old wounds in great detail, but the episodes during which he took personal time off mid-season, his decision to remain on the sideline during the Covid vaccination period, and his recent comments regarding religion all made for tall public relations challenges.

Last summer the public was privy to Irving’s previous interest in leaving Brooklyn for greener pastures. It concluded with the enigmatic figure honouring the final year of his max contract. Until now, that is.

Irrespective of what one thinks of Kyrie’s public personality, he still has game. He’s averaging 27.1 points, 5.3 assists, and 5.1 rebounds per outing. Plenty of squads could make use of his playmaking ability. There are precious few contemporaries who can wizard their way through defenders and toward the basket the way he does. A team that has Irving on its roster gives itself a chance to win the game every night.

Where Might Kyrie Land?

That is the multi-million-dollar question, is it not? Several high-profile candidates can roll up for the Kyrie sweepstakes. Here are the top three as of Friday afternoon, Feb. 3.

Los Angeles Lakers

Chief among them is the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron James knows Irving very well. They played together for three seasons in Cleveland, reaching the NBA Finals each year and winning in dramatic fashion in 2016. Lest it is forgotten, it was Kyrie who shot the ring-winning shot over Stephen Curry in Game 7. One wouldn’t necessarily count on Irving to improve the defence that much, but the team’s odds of winning those shootouts would surely increase.

Miami Heat

The Heat is an interesting prop insofar as they already have a solid point guard in Kyle Lowry, a proven winner who remains consistent to this day. That said, Irving is a younger, more exciting, and multi-talented orchestrator of the offence. Miami has also been on the cusp of greatness twice in three years, during the 2020 bubble Finals and last year’s Eastern Conference seven-game showdown with Boston. Maybe Irving is the final piece of the puzzle.

Dallas Maverick

Dallas comes in at third in the odds ranking. The Mavericks are similar to the Heat insofar as their previous campaign went quite well. They too played a conference final and, like their eastern counterparts, fell short. The Warriors handled them 4-1. The biggest question mark surrounding the club is what they have to offer other than superstar Luka Doncic. There are pundits out there who answer with: “Not much.” Well, if they can make a deep playoff push mainly thanks to Luka (although current Knick Jalen Brunson also had a good year), who knows what can happen with a fellow offensive guru like Kyrie Irving?

It goes without saying that the next few days leading to Feb. 9 will be incredibly interesting to follow.