Kyrie Irving has heard the talk. The scenario is clear for some, but he wants to set the record straight: He and Jimmy Butler are not in cahoots when it comes to free agency after the 2019 season.
The Boston Celtics point guard says he loves his current team and thinks they’re in for a special season, but he won’t commit long-term to the franchise. Irving has called that strictly a business decision, as he can make much more on the open market — even from Boston — than he could by signing an extension right now.
But other, more calculated, rumors are that Irving wants to team up with Butler and both players want to sign with a team together in free agency next summer. This theory does have some holes, the first of which being that it isn’t very Mamba Mentality of Irving to team up with another alpha dog. Irving left Cleveland in part because the franchise didn’t feel like his own, and that independent streak also appears to be in Butler, if some reports are to be believed.
But more than that, it’s not likely because Irving claims he hasn’t talked to Butler about free agency in years. Irving said in a story by ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan that there’s no master plan for the two, as they haven’t been in contact about much of anything.
Irving said he’s aware that he’s been linked to Jimmy Butler in persistent free-agent rumors regarding a mutual desire to play together in New York, but he said he’s had no such discussions with Butler. In fact, he said, the last time he talked to Butler at length was when they were both playing with USA Basketball, and the two engaged in a spitballing session along with Durant and Cousins about what the future held for each of them.
“And that,” Irving laughed, “was in 2016.”
That might not reassure Celtics fans worried the team is prioritizing signing a player who doesn’t want to be there past this season, but Irving did rave about playing in Boston and the “special” Celtics team he’s on this season.
“Who wouldn’t be a part of this?” Irving said, gesturing to Boston’s new practice facility. “Who wouldn’t want to be a part of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum and Al Horford and Gordon Hayward? People keep saying, ‘Why won’t he commit to Boston?’
“Well, there are financial implications involved.”
If Irving had signed an extension with Boston this past summer, he would have potentially left more than $80 million on the table than if he waits and re-signs with the Celtics next summer.
“I’m accepting it’s going to be a constant story,” Irving shrugged. “It’s a point in my professional career where it is a big-time decision. I’ve been away from Cleveland officially for a year now, and I’m finally getting acclimated in Boston.
Irving said last season felt like a “trial” in the backlash he got for wanting to leave Cleveland. He admitted that he wasn’t as focused on the game and his team as he wanted to be, but that things are different this season. Reading between the lines, that could be because he isn’t worried about wanting to play somewhere else, or, maybe, he really just hasn’t made any plans trying to beat the Warriors in June.
