NBA Rumors: Kyrie Irving 'Gone' From Celtics But Lakers Move 'No Way'

As we near free agency season it is looking likelier that Kyrie Irving will leave Boston Celtics when he opts out of the final year of his contract later in July. The Brooklyn Nets seem to be leading the race for the Celtics point guard with New York Knicks also interested in signing the six-time All-Star.

The Celtics are keen to re-sign the guard to a new long-term deal but he has backtracked from the verbal commitment he made in October. His mind seemed to have changed after an overall disappointing campaign for the team, which saw them finish fourth in the regular season and get dumped out of the Western Conference semifinals by the Milwaukee Bucks.

Danny Ainge, the Celtics general manager, seemed quite confident about convincing Irving to re-sign with the Boston franchise, but Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reports that many within the organization already believe the point guard has played his last game for the franchise. There are other plans in place if the Celtics cannot convince Irving to re-sign in the summer.

“I was told by a dozen people around the team, they thought he was gone... so no I am not believing the reporting, I am believing the people around the situation... My personal view is they'll try to reel him back, but if not they are making other plans,” Kyler wrote.

The skepticism within the Celtics about convincing Irving to re-sign has reportedly seen them exploring trade and draft scenarios for players who will line up better alongside Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who they want to build the team around if the 2015 NBA Championship winner leaves.

The Nets and Knicks are two teams he is expected to consider if he leaves Boston. The Nets are said to have an advantage owing to Irving being a fan of the Brooklyn franchise having grown up in West Orange, New Jersey. The Knicks, on the other hand, are looking at partnering him with Kevin Durant, which could also prove to be a tempting prospect.

The Los Angeles Lakers and a potential reunion with LeBron James has also been mooted in recent weeks with ESPN’s Brian Windhorst saying that there is a possibility that Irving could consider joining his former Cavaliers teammate. However, Stadium’s basketball insider Jeff Goodman believes there is no chance the guard will reunite with James.

"There’s no way in my opinion,” Goodman said on the Lakers Nation Podcast, as quoted on Celtics Blog. “Kyrie, who got big boy’d by LeBron for years and wanted out of Cleveland because of that. because of the LeBron show and his crew and he felt like he was the little brother….like, he’s gonna go back to that?? If this happens, man, you need to write a book on that.”