Kyrie Irving reportedly included the Spurs on his list of preferred teams when requesting a trade from the Cavaliers.
How keen on San Antonio is Irving?
Would Irving really sign an extension with San Antonio? I doubt it.
Wojnarowski frequently uses the term “extension” interchangeably with “re-signing on a new contract,” which can lead to confusion. There is often a huge difference – including here.
Irving has two years left on his current contract before a player option. Beyond that, I previously wrote about his options:The largest extension Irving could sign within six months of a trade is one year, $21,104,148. By contrast, Irving’s max salary if he opts out in 2019-20 projects to be about $32 million.
That’d be a large income drop while granting only one additional year of team control.
Six months after being traded, Irving could sign a three-year extension worth $73,361,218 ($24,453,739 annually). If he waits until July, he could sign a four-year extension worth $101,437,733 ($25,359,433 annually).
By contrast, if Irving plays out his contract then opts out in 2019, his max salary projects to be about $188 million over five years ($38 million annually) if he re-signs or $139 million over four years ($35 million annually) if he signs elsewhere.
So, there’s large incentive for Irving to forgo an extension. Anything larger than the one-year, $21,104,148 extension would require trust between Irving and the trading team, anyway.
It would be shocking if Irving signs an extension to facilitate a trade. He’d just be surrendering so much money.
Is Irving willing to make a non-binding commitment to re-sign with the Spurs in two years if they trade for him now? Maybe, but that wouldn’t necessarily mean much to them. Two years is a long time.
Besides, even beyond the extension confusion, San Antonio doesn’t have the expendable young star Cleveland covets in an Irving trade.