It’s been more than 24 hours since news broke of the blockbuster trade sending Kyrie Irving to Dallas for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a first-round pick and two second-round picks. However, there has been nothing official announced and the reason is the Nets are still looking at their options to expand the trade to add a third team, because once the deal is finalized, they would no longer be able to move Finney-Smith or Dinwiddie in anything but a 1-for-1 trade prior to the deadline.
ESPN Sources: Nets-Mavs trade still hasn’t been made official with league office because Nets are evaluating opportunities to expand deal w/ a third team. Teams are expected to make two-way deal official in next couple of hours – unless Nets find something bigger to fold into it.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 6, 2023
Many conversations in the league are going through one team today: the Toronto Raptors.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 6, 2023
Marc Stein quickly followed that up by noting the Nets are looking at rerouting Dinwiddie to Toronto along with draft picks to acquire former All-Star Fred VanVleet, in an apparent effort to keep Kevin Durant happy enough to remain in Brooklyn.
Among the possibilities for expanding the Kyrie Irving-to-Dallas trade before this evening's scheduled trade call: League sources say that Brooklyn has explored the feasibility of packaging Spencer Dinwiddie and draft capital to Toronto in an attempt to acquire Fred VanVleet. https://t.co/L6kg8rNmoy
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 6, 2023
Stein also noted the Nets have interest in Pascal Siakam, with the caveat that the Raptors are reluctant to make their All-NBA forward available in talks — on top of there being a genuine question of whether the Nets have enough to even interest Toronto in a Siakam deal that doesn’t involve Durant.
The problem for Brooklyn is the clock is ticking, as Dallas needs the deal finalized by the end of the day Monday so they can get Irving at practice on Tuesday so he can make his debut on Wednesday night. That means we’ll have a resolution to all of this soon, and learn just how desperate the Nets feel they need to be to beef up this trade.
UPDATE: The Kyrie Irving trade is officially done, meaning Dinwiddie and Finney-Smith can only be moved again in a 1-for-1 trade. That means VanVleet could still be in play if Dinwiddie plus picks is enough, but any larger move involving the Raptors or another team is off the table.
Official:
Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks.
Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, 2029 first-round pick and two second-round picks in 2027 and 2029 to the Brooklyn Nets.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 6, 2023
