Opinion: The Brooklyn Nets Should Trade Kyrie Irving For This Player
The Brooklyn Nets are contending for an NBA title, and the Houston Rockets are the worst team in the NBA.
Therefore, I think that the two teams should make a big trade.
Kyrie Irving is a seven-time All-Star guard, and has not played in a single game this season for the Nets due to the vaccine mandate in New York City.
While he is not eligible to play in home games at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, he could technically be a part-time player in road games.
However, before the season began the Nets announced that they would not allow Irving to be with the team until he can be a full-time participant (see tweet below from Shams Charania of The Athletic).
The Nets are still 13-5, and the best team in the Eastern Conference in Irving's absence.
Earlier in the month, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that "there are no plans for John Wall to play for the Rockets."
The full quote from Wojnarowski can be seen in a tweet that is embedded below from the Twitter account of NBA on ESPN.
The Rockets are also the worst team in the entire NBA with a 2-16 record.
I believe that the two teams should swap Irving and Wall.
Why would a trade work?
The Nets are built to have a big-three of Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden, with older veterans as the supporting cast.
Without Irving, they're missing a large chunk of what their roster was built to be.
They're off to a good start to the regular season, but in the playoffs they could easily be sent home early.
Last season, they lost in the second round of the playoffs in a Game 7 on their home floor against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Nets had Harden and Durant in the game, but Irving was out with an injury for the last few games of the series.
Clearly, they have a lot to prove without him.
The Rockets have nothing to lose with Wall, because they aren't playing him.
He averaged 20.6 points and 6.9 assists per game last season.
No, he is not on the same caliber of Irving, but he would perfectly fill the role that Irving was supposed to play on the Nets.
He could be a scorer and a facilitator, which is what Irving does.
Wall's massive salary ($44,310,840, according to Spotrac) makes him tough to trade.
Yet, Irving's large salary ($34,916,200, according to Spotrac) would make a deal much easier.
Their salaries are not exactly a match, but a deal could easily get done.
The Nets have multiple trade exceptions, according to Spotrac, or they could add another player to the swap.
Who knows if Irving would even want to suit up for the Rockets, but he would not have the vaccine mandate rule of New York City, so he'd be eligible for all of their games.
If Irving didn't want to play there then the Rockets still have him to trade, or could simply waive him or buy him out and save money.
Maybe the Rockets could even get a sweetener from the Nets such as a second round pick.
If they only traded Wall, they would have gotten Irving essentially for free, because Wall wasn't playing for them all season anyway.
Durant is 33-years-old, so the Nets need to do everything they can to win at least one championship over the next few years.
Wall would help them achieve that goal.
Both teams should consider making this deal.
