Kyrie Irving Rumors: Nets Join Knicks as Front-Runners to Sign PG in Free Agency

If Kyrie Irving leaves the Boston Celtics for New York City this offseason, it may not be for the Knicks.

Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News reported Friday that some around the league believe Irving would prefer to sign with the Brooklyn Nets.

"I think Brooklyn is the fit that's better for him in terms of his mindset," former Cavaliers general manager David Griffin said. "I think he likes what they've done there, culturally."

The Nets will have cap space to add a max contract and appears ready to make a leap despite being depleted of draft picks by the ill-fated Kevin Garnett-Paul Pierce trade in 2014. Brooklyn is seventh in the Eastern Conference at 38-38 and has a potential co-star guard for Irving in D'Angelo Russell.

Irving has grated at the constant speculation about his impending free agency this summer. While he initially pledged to re-sign with the Celtics in October, he's since backed off that stance, most notably telling reporters "I don't owe anybody s--t" in early February.

"A lot of people don't realize from the outside that a lot of things that are said get into locker rooms," Irving told ESPN's Rachel Nichols nearly three weeks after that statement. "A lot of things that are put in headlines get into locker rooms. Media has broken up locker rooms. It's been done before. You say something and it's misinterpreted and instead of addressing it with the person or individual, like human interaction, you read it on your phone.”

The Knicks have been widely speculated as a destination for Irving given their two max-contract slots and his friendship with Kevin Durant, another likely Knicks target. 

Brooklyn appears an awkward fit on several levels. The Nets have good guard depth with Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert. Their focus in free agency likely will (and should) be on adding better pieces to their wing; if anything, they should be the ones focused on landing Durant.

There is also little reason for Irving to leave Boston for Brooklyn. The Knicks make tangible sense because a Durant-Irving pairing would make the Knicks competitors in the East. Even with the Nets being a well-run organization, a Boston-to-Brooklyn move probably does nothing but put Irving in a worse spot for a less glamorous NBA franchise.