Kyrie Irving, Celtics Have 'Understanding' With 2019 Free Agency Looming: Report

Kyrie Irving’s long-term future with the Boston Celtics continues to be a topic of discussion during the NBA off-season. The point guard refused to sign an extension on his current deal with the Celtics this summer, opting to wait until the end of the 2018-19 season to make a decision with regards to his future.

Irving can decline the player option in his current contract and become an unrestricted free agent in 2019. That is the most likely outcome, and it has given rise to speculation about his next destination.

The Celtics are desperate to hold on to him in the long-term and it is believed they have an understanding with the point guard he will opt out of his current deal and re-sign with them on much more lucrative terms.

There were talks about him being traded this off-season after he declined to sign a new deal, but the Celtics hierarchy — general manager Danny Ainge — made it clear he will not be traded, as they envision a long-term partnership.

“My best intel is that the Celtics and Kyrie have a pretty good mutual understanding that he wasn’t going to get traded in the offseason and that there are long-term aspirations for both parties,” ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz said during Wednesday’s episode of “The Jump,” as per NESN. “Anything can happen over the course of an eight-month season, but I kind of like him staying.”

Despite Celtics’ belief about Irving wanting to stay, he has been linked with moves to the New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets. Colin Cowherd seems to think the links to the former are real.

The New York franchise will have the cap space next season to sign one of the top free agents and could look to build a super team with a number of top players set to enter free agency in 2019.

Irving insisted his focus is purely on leading the Celtics to a championship — after they narrowly missed making the NBA Finals in 2018. The TD Garden outfit, despite being without their star point guard and fellow new recruit Gordon Hayward, made it to the East finals but lost in Game 7 to LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers.

The five-time All-Star is excited with the potential the Celtics possess in terms of the young players on their roster and coach Brad Stevens recently admitted he hoped Irving sees it as incentive to commit his long-term future to the team.

“I’m not going to talk to him about it at all,” Stevens recently told Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Mannix. “One of the things I want to do is give everything I can to all these guys while they’re here. Hopefully, the people that are here recognize that it’s a really good environment with a high upside for a long time. It’s some place that will be committed to them, committed to their overall game and enhancement and off the court and everything else.”