For the Nets, the 21-22 season was a losing season, and after stumbling to win a playoff ticket, the Nets were swept in the first round, becoming the first team in the league to be out of the first round this season, and the only team in the league to be swept in the first round this season. After all the journeys of the season, the players entered a pleasant off-season, and the team management had to think about the future of the team.
Speaking of which, the Team that the Nets built around Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving don't have many problems, and if Ben Simmons can still play his organizational and defensive abilities, the Nets' combat effectiveness is worth looking forward to. However, the Nets have many problems to solve, one of the key ones is whether Irving's contract is renewed or not. However, Irving's stay is not a small problem for the Nets.
First of all, Irving stayed with the Nets, Irving is the 2011 champion, his football age has reached more than 10 years, according to the league's salary regulations, if Irving stays at the Nets, he can get a top salary contract with a starting salary of 35%, an increase of 8%, and a maximum of 5 years. The league previously announced that the salary cap for the 22-23 season is about 122 million, so Irving can get a maximum salary contract of 250 million for 5 years.
If Irving can play normally, he will not have a problem getting a maximum salary contract, after all, Irving's ability is beyond doubt. However, Irving's problem is that his thinking is different from ordinary people, and sometimes even hurts the interests of the team, so the Nets really have to think twice about giving Irving a maximum salary contract of 250 million. Perhaps, the Nets should consider writing terms such as attendance into the contract in order to urge Irving to play normally.
Not to mention Irving not staying with the Nets, Irving will have player options in the 2022 offseason, and he can jump out of the contract to join other teams as a free agent. However, if Irving leaves, the Nets have limited operating space. Next season, the Nets have the following players with guaranteed contracts: Durant 44.12 million, Simmons 35.45 million, Joe Harris 18.64 million, Seth Curry 8.5 million, Cameron Johnson 2.14 million, Dai Roan Sharp 2.11 million, in addition to Patty Mills has player options, next season's salary of 6.18 million, and Nicholas Clarkston, Kessler Edwards, David Duke and others are restricted free agents.
Excluding Irving's words, the Nets' combined salary next season is about $117.14 million, and the league's salary cap next season is 122 million, which means that the Nets only have $4.86 million in salary space, which is simply not able to sign better players. Therefore, if Irving leaves the Nets, the space that the Nets can adjust is also very limited. Therefore, Irving's going and staying are the nets' problems, relatively speaking, the Nets left Irving is a better choice, because the team is good and has the improvement of combat effectiveness.
Speaking of which, teams that form the Big Three model will eventually have the problem of salary space. The Nets' problems today are not just Irving's personal problems, they have failed to get James Harden and send Harden away. To get Harden, the Nets sent out unprotected first-round picks for 22, 24 and 26 years, with 21, 23 years to go. 25 and 27 years without protection for the first round of swaps. It can be said that the Nets have overdrawn their future draft picks in order to get Harden. In fact, this is the failure of the Nets, not to deny the role of Harden to the Nets, this is Durant, Irving and Harden are not better defensive players, such a big three even if they are healthy conditions, may not be able to create better results.
As for sending Harden away, the Nets were also helpless, they got Curry Jr., Andre Drummond, Simmons and two future first-round picks. As a result, Simmons could not play, and Curry Jr. and Drummond were only supporting roles, which could not change the trend of the game. As far as the playoffs are concerned, if Harden plays, he will definitely attract defense for Durant and Irving, and the Nets may not lose so badly. Moreover, the Nets lost five draft picks after getting Harden and sending harden away, which Simmons and others could not get back.
The Nets began to build a lineup in the 2019 offseason, and their direction of operation was not wrong, but the result was not satisfactory, and it was a representative of a good hand of cards. In the 2022 offseason, the Nets will definitely have to move, in addition to Irving's stay, there is also Simmons' problem, if it is not handled well, the Nets may not be as they wish at the moment, and the future will be more difficult.
Text/Duncan's laugh