Breaking: Kyrie Irving Is Opting IN To $36.9M Option With Nets

Adding another twist to the Kyrie Irving saga, NBA Insider Shams Charania is reporting that Irving is OPTING IN to his $36.9M contract with the Brooklyn Nets for this season.

Kyrie Irving: “Normal people keep the world going, but those who dare to be different lead us into tomorrow. I’ve made my decision to opt in. See you in the fall. A11even.” https://t.co/rpiS8YkSZI
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 27, 2022

Charania says that Kyrie is "bypassing on multiple opt-in and trade scenarios to fulfill his four-year commitment to the Nets and Kevin Durant."

But is this soap opera really over? All it means for now is these three things:

There'll be no long-term contract with the Nets
Irving's camp wasn't able to find a sign-and-trade deal
He wasn't interested in foregoing $30M in order to sign a midlevel exception with the Lakers

Kyrie Irving and the Nets were in a public feud for leverage over the last week, which resulted in no ground gained for a long-term deal.

Certainly feels like that situation is nowhere close to resolved, but this now likely keeps Kevin Durant in Brooklyn through the 2023 season.
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) June 27, 2022

This should likely derail all the Kevin Durant trade scenarios that made the rounds the past few days.

Irving has only played in 103 of a possible 226 games with the Nets over the past three seasons, so there's no telling how often he'll be "available" for Brooklyn this year, or even if they'll still attempt to trade him (an extremely unlikely scenario, as there are no teams other than the Lakers interesting in acquiring him.)

Photo Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports