The Clippers have joined a handful of teams who are interested in landing Brooklyn Nets star guard Kyrie Irving, according to an ESPN report.
The Clippers have been open about their desire to acquire a veteran point guard before Thursday’s noon PT trade deadline and are exploring a possible deal for Irving, who on Friday demanded the Nets trade him.
Irving, who is in the final year of a contract that pays him $36.9 million, has been seeking the four-year, $198.5 million maximum extension that is available to him until June 30, but the Nets are unwilling to give him a deal of that length. If he is traded, he would be eligible to sign a two-year, $78.6 million extension with his new team until June 30.
The Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns are the other teams who have reportedly expressed interest in landing the 30-year-old Irving, who is averaging 27.1 points, 5.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds this season.
While the Clippers (30-26) have several attractive players on mid-size salaries who the Nets might be interested in, they might not be willing to upset the rotation Coach Tyronn Lue has settled on. Among those players who could be in the mix are Terance Mann, Norman Powell, Luke Kennard and Marcus Morris Sr.
The one area the Clippers haven’t truly settled on is the point guard role. Mann is starting as a non-traditional point guard, which sent Reggie Jackson to the bench, and Paul George recently has increased his ball-handling duties.
John Wall, who signed a two-year $6.479 million deal with the Clippers after reaching a buyout with the Houston Rockets, has played in 34 games but missed the past 11 because of an abdominal injury. There is no target date for his return.
Before getting injured, Wall was averaging 11.4 points, 5.2 assists and 2.7 rebounds but is shooting just 40.7% in an average of 22 minutes.
The Nets (31-20) are reportedly proceeding as if they do intend to trade Irving while trying to remain in contention with All-Star forward Kevin…
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