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“Nets Looking Into Further Opportunities as Kyrie Irving Trade Saga Continues”
The Brooklyn Nets agreed in principle to trade Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday for Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, an unprotected first-round pick from 2029 and two future second-rounders. That deal is ongoing, league sources told Yahoo Sports, and the Nets have been actively exploring opportunities to expand the deal to three teams that will continue to improve Brooklyn’s roster around Kevin Durant.
The Raptors have shown interest in Dinwiddie in the past, sources said, and the concept of moving draft capital plus combo guard to Toronto for Fred VanVleet became a popular idea among league executives Sunday night. But sources said the Nets have no intention of moving Dinwiddie, though Brooklyn and Toronto remain locked in trade talks as the 3:00 p.m. ET Thursday trade deadline approaches.
There remains a great deal of skepticism among league staff that the Raptors will actually move All-Star forward Pascal Siakam this week, despite interest from the Nets and other teams, sources said. Talented forward OG Anunoby has been the name that rival executives have watched most outside of VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr., and between Finney-Smith and Royce O’Neale the Nets clearly have two-way wings as reinforcements around Durant from the Past targeted to last summer.
There are other Nets players that Toronto’s front office has targeted in the past. The Raptors were one of the teams that expressed interest in Ben Simmons when he tried to be traded away from Philadelphia last season, sources said. And before last year’s trading close, Toronto and Brooklyn discussed trading Nic Claxton, sources said, as the Raptors bought a pack of Goran Dragic and a league first-round pick. The Nets eventually stuck with the young center, rewarding Claxton with a two-year, $17 million contract during the offseason.
Brooklyn was determined to only take trades that improve the Nets’ chances of winning a championship with Durant up front and in the middle. Brooklyn would have tried to divert Russell Westbrook and the Lakers’ two first-round picks it could possibly have gotten for Irving to acquire better win-now plays around Durant, sources told Yahoo Sports. The Nets chose the unprotected first-round pick of the 2029 Mavericks and two future second-round players rather than press Dallas to pick up rising wing Josh Green, sources said, especially given that future draft capital often has greater commercial value than current players.
If Dinwiddie is moved elsewhere, the Clippers have also valued the combo guard going back to last season’s trade close, sources said, and Los Angeles remains on the lookout for point guard reinforcements after changing hands at Brooklyn inquired about the feasibility of landing Irving. There was at least one interesting notion, however, that several front offices in the league believed news of the Clippers’ bid for Irving was some kind of smoke screen.
The Nets are still working to finalize the deal with Kyrie Irving. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, file)
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