NBA Rumors: Buzz on Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons Trades and Klay Thompson's Injury
The 2021-22 NBA season is underway, and a couple of potential trades continue to loom large over the league.
Kyrie Irving's name has started to come up in trade rumors after the Brooklyn Nets decided to sideline the seven-time All-Star. Because of New York City's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Irving, who is unvaccinated, is not allowed to play home games. The Nets consequently decided that he won't play at all. Another team, though, could give him an opportunity this season.
Ben Simmons, meanwhile, remains the topic of trade buzz, which he has been since the Philadelphia 76ers' playoff loss to the Atlanta Hawks last season.
Here we'll dive into the latest on the Irving and Simmons trade fronts, along with an updated timeline for Klay Thompson's return to the Golden State Warriors.
Kyrie Irving
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Rather than making Irving a part-time player who's only available for road games, the Nets decided that shutting him down entirely was the best course of action.
"These are hard decisions," general manager Sean Marks said, per ESPN's Tim Bontemps. "Just like I'm sure it wasn't easy for Kyrie either to have to make that [decision] to not be around his teammates."
Irving also won't be offered a contract extension by Brooklyn, something Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on The Glue Guys podcast.
But while Brooklyn has no plans to play Irving, other teams are looking into the possibility. According to NBA insider Jordan Schultz, teams have contacted the Nets, though they are not eager to pull the trigger on a trade.
"Sources: Multiple teams continue reaching out to the Nets regarding a potential Kyrie Irving trade," Schultz tweeted. "Brooklyn, however, is 'clearly sitting tight' right now, as one WC executive tells me. In other words, even if the Nets were to move Irving, it wouldn't be anytime soon."
We may see Irving play in a different uniform this season—or perhaps in Brooklyn should he decide to comply with COVID-19 protocol—but don't expect him to be traded in the immediate future.
Ben Simmons
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After a preseason holdout, Simmons returned to Philadelphia just before the start of the regular season. However, he reportedly wasn't willing to give 100 percent and was suspended by the team for the season-opener.
"I didn't think he wanted to do what everybody else was doing," coach Doc Rivers said, per ESPN's Tim Bontemps.
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Simmons told the team Friday that he "wasn't mentally ready to play to his expectations and needed time to step away."
While the 76ers may still trade Simmons, an early-season deal doesn't appear likely. According to NBA insider Marc Stein (h/t Bleacher Report's Bryan Toporek), Philadelphia is likely to wait until December to seriously consider a trade: "League sources concur that no Simmons trade is imminent and that Morey is likely to wait until after Dec. 15, when more players are eligible to be dealt leaguewide before he pursues a deal with greater intent."
As is the case with Irving, we may see Simmons play elsewhere this season, but probably not in the opening weeks.
Klay Thompson
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The Golden State Warriors should be back in the Finals mix this season after making a play-in bid during the 2020-21 campaign. Golden State opened the season with wins over the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers and still doesn't have one of its best players on the court.
Klay Thompson is still recovering from a torn Achilles, but it appears that his return is right around the proverbial corner.
Reporting for Stadium, Charania noted that Thompson is expected to return to practice within roughly a month—though Golden State isn't going to rush him into game action:
"I'm told Klay Thompson will be cleared for full practice over the next month or so. ... I would look somewhere in the December-January range for his return. But the Warriors will be cautious. They've been doing a lot of data and science and leaning a lot on data and science, I'm told. So I would expect them to continue to do that."
According to Stein, Warriors general manager Bob Myers echoed this timeline for Thompson's return.
"Maybe January," Myers said, per Stein.
Golden State already has the look of a title contender. Presumably, it will be even more of a threat with Thompson back in the fold. We should see that in early 2022.
