Kyrie Irving Rumors: 76ers Have No Interest in Trade with Nets amid Ben Simmons Buzz

Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons have dominated headlines throughout the NBA's offseason, but one headline that apparently will not happen is their respective teams swapping them in a trade.

Sam Amick of The Athletic reported Tuesday that the Philadelphia 76ers are not interested in trading for the Brooklyn Nets star even though, as The Athletic's tweet put it, "an Irving for Ben Simmons trade is seen by some as an easy solution to both teams' problems."

The Nets made headlines Tuesday when general manager Sean Marks announced that Irving will not practice or play with the team until he is eligible to be a full participant:

"Given the evolving nature of the situation and after thorough deliberation, we have decided Kyrie Irving will not play or practice with the team until he is eligible to be a full participant. Kyrie has made a personal choice, and we respect his individual right to choose. Currently the choice restricts his ability to be a full-time member of the team, and we will not permit any member of our team to participate with part-time availability. It is imperative that we continue to build chemistry as a team and remain true to our long-established values of togetherness and sacrifice. Our championship goals for the season have not changed, and to achieve these goals each member of our organization must pull in the same direction. We are excited for the start of the season and look forward to a successful campaign that will make the borough of Brooklyn proud."

Local mandates for indoor arenas that required Nets players to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to play in home games meant Irving was not going to be available for half of the season.

Losing Irving on the court would be a massive blow to one of the top championship contenders in the league. He is a seven-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA selection who won the 2016 title as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Brooklyn still has Kevin Durant and James Harden, but it is far more dangerous with all three players on the floor together.

As for Simmons, it had seemed like he would eventually be traded out of Philadelphia this offseason. Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported in August the LSU product told members of the front office and head coach Doc Rivers that he no longer wanted to play for the 76ers.

He didn't report for much of training camp, and the situation had reached something of a stalemate until ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday that Simmons arrived in Philadelphia to the surprise of the team.

"The Sixers scoured the league but never came close to finding a deal that returned them the kind of elite player they'd want in exchange for Simmons," Wojnarowski wrote, adding Simmons' decision to show up kick-started "the process of returning to a franchise from which he has requested a trade."

Irving would give the 76ers an All-Star-caliber player to pair with Joel Embiid, while Simmons would provide the same in Brooklyn alongside Harden and Durant.

Alas, it appears such a trade is not going to happen.