Kyrie Irving will not be signing any extension with the Boston Celtics, for now. The guard, who is still recovering from a season ending knee injury, is rumoured to be considering his options ahead of the 2019/20 season.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Irving said that “Contractually, financially, it just doesn’t make any sense.”
What does he mean by this? If Irving declines and an extension, testing the free agent market, he could be given a max contract ($139,320,000) by a talent needy team such as the New York Knicks. That works out around $11m extra per season in comparison with the extension on offer this offseason.
Irving went on to emphasise that his focus is on Boston and winning the championship next year:
“I think you guys can feel my attitude is really just redemption next year. Really integrating myself with our team again and really focus on winning a championship,” Irving said. “That’s the only thing I’m really worried about.
Kyrie Irving confirms he won’t sign an extension with the Celtics https://t.co/oc56OsKWC6
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) June 12, 2018
“Until I get to that point, then I can’t really answer any questions. I’m pretty sure management and I will have a talk, but that talk won’t happen now.”
It was widely expected that he would re-sign with Boston when they acquired the 26-year-old in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers this time last year. It seems however that the Celtics run to the Eastern Conference finals on the back of young stars Terry Rozier and Jayson Tatum has done little to convince him that TD Garden is the place for him in the long term.
Irving was on course for one of his best seasons as a professional with 24.4 points along with 5.1 assists and shooting 40.8% of threes in 60 games before he sustained the knee injury that would rule him out of the playoffs. Another season with that kind of production would guarantee him the max deal and a ton of potential suitors across the NBA.
It is no secret that he was keen on a trade to the Knicks last summer and the New York franchise have made it abundantly clear that should he become available next summer, Kyrie Irving will be top of their shopping list.
