Opinion

Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant were a package deal in 2019 free agency. Almost three years later, nothing appears to have changed. The Brooklyn Nets would be wise to remember as much while they contemplate the fate of their superteam run astray.

According to the New York Daily News' Kristian Winfield, Irving's spotty availability and refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine has left Brooklyn "outright unwilling to give him a long-term extension" ahead of his 2022 free agency (player option). Perhaps this is merely a negotiating ploy. If it's something more, if the Nets are actually ready to close their Kyrie Irving chapter, they might as well prepare for the end of the Kevin Durant era, too.

This is not an all-or-nothing proposition in the most literal sense. Durant, unlike Irving, already signed an extension with Brooklyn. He is under contract through the 2025-26 season, without any early outs. The Nets can absolutely move on from Irving and keep him.

Theoretically.

Select superstars have the cachet to force a franchise's hand no matter how much time is left on their deal. Durant is among that exclusive clique. Building around disgruntled top-seven players is untenable. If he wants out, Brooklyn doesn't just have to listen. It's all but obligated to acquiesce. 

Showing Kyrie the door or facilitating his exit elsewhere opens up the Nets to this exact nightmare scenario, in which they'll have lost three superstars in the same year. They already folded the James Harden experiment. If Kyrie is next to go, Durant likely will not be far behind.

Remember: KD isn't in Brooklyn to play for the Nets or to maximize his chances at a third NBA championship. He is in Brooklyn, first and foremost, to play with Kyrie:

It’s common knowledge that Durant is committed to playing with Kyrie Irving. Letting him walk would only open the door for KD to demand out.

Marks is playing with fire if he can’t find a middle ground with Kyrie.

— Anthony Puccio (@APOOCH) May 25, 2022

The Nets will be spared from taking the everything-or-nothing view if KD is on board with ditching Kyrie or at least not married to the idea of playing with him. And who knows, maybe he's at that point. Kyrie hasn't exactly made things easy on him, after all.

This era of Nets basketball has devolved from championship inevitability to a slew of what-ifs and could-have-beens largely centered on Kyrie. What if he doesn't get injured during their 2021 playoff run? Do they still get bounced by the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round?

More critically, what if Kyrie doesn't resist getting the COVID-19 vaccine this past season? Is Harden still in Brooklyn, fully vested and everything? Does KD still need to ferry an unfathomably heavy, perhaps unsafe workload, both before and after his left MCL injury? Is Kyrie more equipped to log substantial minutes in the playoffs if he doesn't miss most of the season and then initially return in a part-time capacity?

Are the Nets still ousted in the first round? Or do they make a deeper postseason push? Are they maybe still playing right now, in the conference finals, rather than deliberating the future of a star who undermined not just a single season but potentially the organization's entire title window?

The sheer breadth of missed opportunities could be enough for Durant to reconsider tethering what's left of his prime to Kyrie, especially if he cares only about the basketball of it all.

Kyrie fans be blind to the antics, but it seems his top partner and his current team are both tired of it. Incredible talent, but has been one of the flakiest players of my lifetime. Post-Cavs, there’s always been something. What do you think he does if Nets don’t offer big deal?

— Nate Jones (@JonesOnTheNBA) May 25, 2022

"I understand how confusing the constant conversation is," KD's manager, Rich Kleiman, said during a recent appearance on Hot 97 (h/t Nets Kingdom). "In reality, they lost, so they gotta look at their team. We all know that Kyrie is an elite, skilled basketball player. Honestly, at the end of the day, we're trying to win a championship. When the dust settles, it focuses on basketball."

Kleiman's sentiments could lend a certain hope, even if indirectly, that the Nets and KD can find a middle ground independent of Kyrie. But they don't.

Brooklyn's front office apparently hasn't spoken with KD since the team's first-round sweep at the hands of Boston, per Winfield. Flags don't come in any deeper shades of red.

Maybe you refuse to buy that general manager Sean Marks and company haven't spoken in weeks to their franchise lifeline and, frankly, co-architect. However, the notion Durant would become disenchanted with the Nets if they divorced the person most responsible for his being in Brooklyn is hardly farfetched. Common-sense enthusiasts might even call it likely.

The Nets can incentivize KD to stay without Kyrie by reopening their title window. Good luck with that.

Letting Kyrie walk in free agency would barely make a dent in Brooklyn's flexibility. Wiping his salary from the ledger opens up the bigger mid-level exception but not the cap space to even begin replacing him.

Anyone hoping the Nets can make out like bandits in prospective sign-and-trade scenarios shouldn't hold their breath. This year's cash-starved market is less than ideal for stars looking to window shop, but Kyrie is not without leverage.

He could sign a four-year max with a cap-space team like San Antonio or Orlando and worry about orchestrating his exit later. Outside parties won't mind being used as pawns if they can grab assets for him they wouldn't otherwise land.

That is a nuclear measure, but Kyrie has gone more nuclear in the past. (See: Requesting a trade from Cleveland after three straight Finals appearances and one championship.) And he doesn't need to actually go through with it. He just needs to box the Nets into a corner to send him where he wants, most likely in exchange for a small- or medium-sized pittance that leaves the organization's on-court product appreciably worse for wear.

Will Durant really be enamored by the opportunity to soldier on with Ben Simmons (who is coming off back surgery and won't have played basketball in over a year), Seth Curry, Joe Harris, Cam Thomas and spare parts from a prospective Kyrie sign-and-trade? Even if the Nets retrain Bruce Brown and Nic Claxton and knock the rest of free agency out of the park, that core doesn't adequately stack up with Boston, Miami or Milwaukee. 

Brooklyn without Kyrie tops out as a faux contender. And that's assuming near-perfect availability from Durant himself, which is far from a given. He has missed a combined 136 games over the past three seasons and turns 34 in September. Headlining a solo-star operation is unsustainable and unappealing for him. Why should the Nets and Durant himself perpetuate a situation eons away from the NBA Finals? It's a waste of time, for everyone involved. 

This begs the question: In the event the Nets are open to writing off Kyrie as a sunk cost, are they also willing to do the same with Durant? Because they better be. A KD trade request (or demand) feels like the most likely, if not only, fallout from a Kyrie Irving exit. 

And what then? It's hard to imagine what a KD trade even looks like because the very concept has until now been unfathomable.

There is no way, though, that the Nets can recoup enough assets to warrant a full-tilt rebuild.

KD will have a say in where he goes because that's how this works. Nobody is acquiring a soon-to-be 34-year-old owed $194.2 million over the next four seasons without receiving his stamp of approval. And the teams that will reasonably resonate with him won't be ones drowning in A-plus trade chips or positioned to send back mega-early lottery picks in the summers to come.

Boston (Jaylen Brown) and Phoenix (ultra-complicated Deandre Ayton sign-and-trade) are probably the contenders best suited to win over KD and send Brooklyn a building-block centerpiece. (Ironically, thanks to Jonathan Kuminga, so is Golden State.) But even their most aggressive offers do little to reload the Nets' neither hopelessly empty nor enviably stocked asset chest. 

This all says nothing of what a rebuild—or a more kindly termed "impromptu overhaul"—does to Brooklyn's own draft obligations. The Houston Rockets control the Nets' next five first-rounders after this year, with outright ownership in 2024 and 2026 and swaps in 2023, 2025 and 2027. Pivoting away from Kyrie and KD exponentially increases the likelihood Brooklyn forks over top-shelf selections.

That risk alone should be terrifying enough for the Nets to cave and extend Kyrie. Their current hardball stance is oddly timed anyway.

I still think both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving will be Nets next year and for seasons to come.

The extension discussions will be interesting, though. Is Kyrie willing to take a deal where part of his salary is correlated to games played?

— Alec Sturm (@Alec_Sturm) May 25, 2022

This front office surrendered control of their organization to the stars when they paid DeAndre Jordan in 2019, and again when they let Kenny Atkinson leave in March 2020, and again when they hired Steve Nash, and yet again when they mortgaged depth, draft picks and flexibility to acquire James Harden, and again still when they allowed Kyrie to rejoin the team as a part-time player.

Now is not the time for the Nets to grow a backbone. The culture-by-committee that was is no more. Superstars are their new culture, for better or worse. It isn't right, nor is it wrong. It's the decision they made years ago, then again and again since, and deviating from it now by allowing or encouraging Kyrie to leave isn't noble. 

It's a reversal that will set them back years—and cost them Kevin Durant. 

            

Unless otherwise noted, stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Stathead or Cleaning the Glass. Salary information via Spotrac.

Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and listen to his Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by NBA Math's Adam Fromal.

It seems the NFL is finally ready to fix the Pro Bowl.

The quality of play in the all-star game has deteriorated to the point of being nearly unwatchable for most football fans. With Pro Bowl ratings having reached a 16-year low in 2022, drastic adjustments may soon be in the pipeline.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported Tuesday that the league is discussing tweaks to Pro Bowl week. The topic arose in Atlanta as part of a regularly scheduled owners' meeting, according to Mark Maske of the Washington Post.

The most significant change could be the cancellation of the game itself.

It would not be a controversial decision. Roughly 80 percent of the fans who responded to a Twitter poll Tuesday afternoon agreed that the Pro Bowl game should be done away with.

However, the league doesn't seem keen on getting rid of the week between the conference championship games and Super Bowl altogether. It still wants to show off its biggest stars during that time, per Rapoport.

While most would agree that a change to the Pro Bowl is necessary, there doesn't seem to be a consensus on the best way to go about it.

A move away from a full-tackle 11-on-11 contest looks likely. Maske revealed that a seven-on-seven competition without tackling was under consideration as an alternative.

Bleacher Report polled app users and saw some mixed results on how the NFL should replace the Pro Bowl. While "just get rid of the whole week" had the lead on Tuesday afternoon with 36.6 percent of the vote, the "add more to skills challenge" option was only slightly behind at 35.4 percent.

Only 17.3 percent of voters want to see a linemen-only seven-on-seven game, while races to determine the fastest player earned 10.7 percent of votes.

If the league needs inspiration, there is no shortage of options being thrown around on social media. Here's a look at some of the more interesting alternatives.

   

Old School vs. New School

Chad Johnson, a six-time Pro Bowler himself, wants to see current stars square off with retired Pro Bowlers in a flag football matchup.

Johnson's idea could have some legs, especially since the league honored legacy Pro Bowlers by having players like Michael Irvin and Jerry Rice serve as team captains during the Pro Bowl draft era in the mid-2010s. Some recently retired superstars could give the current generation of elite talents a run for their money in a seven-on-seven game.

Coaxing stars who likely still have something left in the tank—such as Andrew Luck, Julian Edelman, Marshawn Lynch and many others—to come out of retirement for a flag football game could be competitive and fun.

Like Johnson said, this one would likely smash the Pro Bowl ratings record.

   

Better Skills Competitions

Former NFL safety Su'a Cravens wants to see the Pro Bowl return to Hawaii—it moved away from Aloha Stadium a half-decade ago—and more skills competitions during the week.

Returning the event to Aloha Stadium would add more luster to Pro Bowl week. Hawaii is an exciting destination for players and fans, and the state doesn't see regular NFL action anymore.

The other half of Cravens' idea could make Pro Bowl week even more exciting. Expanding the current Skills Showdown—which already includes precision-passing, thread-the-needle, best-catch and fastest-man events in addition to a dodgeball game—by creating new challenges would make for a riveting watch.

Competitions to see who can throw the longest pass or kick the longest field goal, regardless of position, would add a level of intrigue that the Pro Bowl has been lacking. The NFL could even bring in specialists to compete in these events even if they aren't selected as Pro Bowlers, much like how the NBA invites its top athletes to compete in the Slam Dunk Contest.

   

Slam Dunk Contest

Speaking of the dunk contest, radio host Rich Eisen believes there should be one involving NFL players. That idea might have some traction, as nearly 70 percent of Twitter voters believe the NBA has the best All-Star Game of the four major American sports leagues.

It would be unconventional, but who wouldn't want to watch massive NFL linemen throwing down windmill dunks during the lead-up to the Super Bowl?

Stars like Myles Garrett, Odell Beckham Jr., Tyreek Hill, Patrick Mahomes and many others have shown off their dunk artistry in the past. There could be some hidden gems lurking in the Pro Bowl field, too.

If the league added a dunk contest to the Skills Showdown, it could very well end up being one of the most popular events amongst viewers.

   

Combine Drills for Cash

Denver Broncos reporter Benjamin Allbright wants to eliminate any sort of Pro Bowl game and instead focus on combine-style workouts and drills with money on the line.

Allbright's idea would give extra incentive to participants who generally go out of their way to avoid risking injury in the Pro Bowl. With cash up for grabs—that could either end up in their bank account or go toward their favorite charities—players would have more reason to give their all in these events.

NFL stars would throw up reps on the bench press, run 40-yard dashes, show off their vertical leaps and run through the rest of the combine-style testing that they likely haven't performed since they were hopeful draftees in Indianapolis.

It would also provide some interesting data for fans, as they could compare a Pro Bowler's current testing numbers to those from before they entered the league.

   

Bring In the NCAA

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Jarvis Landry wants to see college football become part of Pro Bowl by week by having pro players coach the Senior Bowl.

Having the NCAA and NFL all-star showcases intermingled at the same location during the same week could add to these respective events. The top college stars could compete against the best pros in skills challenges and combine events, which most fans would love to witness.

Landry's idea would also give players a chance to try their hand at coaching, potentially opening a post-playing career option that they may not get exposed to otherwise.

It would also give pro personnel solid access to collegiate talent, helping teams get familiar with the prospects whom they'll soon have a chance to draft.

   

Relegation

With the rise of the USFL, it may be time to discuss bringing relegation over to major American sports.

While there's almost zero chance that team owners would ever go for it, @fah_fl0p on the Bleacher Report app suggested that the USFL champion should take on the NFL's lowliest squad with relegation on the line.

Soccer fans would likely be all for this. Relegating the worst teams and promoting the best from a lesser league fosters a better competitive environment and discourages tanking.

The NFL may never adopt it, but a Relegation Bowl would surely make for a more intriguing watch than sitting through another Pro Bowl in its current format.

   

NFL x Survivor

One of the top comments on the Bleacher Report app's Pro Bowl discussion was courtesy of @billdelano. He suggested that the league hold a Hard Knocks-style reality show in which Pro Bowlers are sent to Hawaii to compete in a team survivor competition.

This would gives fans a better glimpse into these NFL stars off the field as they tackled challenges that they don't face on the gridiron.

   

NFL x Chopped

Longtime NFL reporter Josina Anderson likes the idea of replacing the Pro Bowl with a cookout and ceremony for the league's top stars.

Taking that a step further, perhaps NFL players themselves could provide the fare for this cookout. The league could hold a Chopped-style competition or a barbecue face-off that identifies the best culinary talents amongst the Pro Bowlers.

It may not be hard-hitting football, but many players—especially NFL linemen—take their cooking seriously and would likely put it all on the line if this idea were adopted.

   

No. 1 Pick Bowl

Several others suggested that the NFL should move away from an all-star showcase and instead pit the league's two worst teams against one another with the No. 1 overall pick on the line.

This is one of the more interesting ideas out there, as it would create competitive, meaningful football. While the Pro Bowl wouldn't be the star showcase that the league has traditionally used it for, a draft-pick bowl could be paired with Anderson's idea of holding a cookout and ceremony for the NFL's best.

Regardless of what the NFL decides to do, almost anything will be better than the current Pro Bowl format. With so many interesting ideas floating around right now, the league could throw a dart at one and improve the Pro Bowl.

Aaron Donald is the best defensive player of his generation and should be paid as such. The Los Angeles Rams surely know this. If they don't, they run the risk of losing the greatest player in franchise history.

Some may scoff at the final statement, yet Donald has more Defensive Player of the Year trophies than Deacon Jones, more first-team All-Pro nods than Merlin Olsen and made arguably the biggest play in the biggest moment to capture the organization's second title of the Super Bowl era. 

Donald is an all-time great. Because of his standing and the possibility of retirement, the defensive lineman holds significant leverage in negotiating a new deal despite three years remaining on his contract. 

The market has significantly changed over the last year. The Rams can't hold strong on their current agreement, or they run the risk of losing Donald altogether. 

"Keep in mind that the retirement buzz around Donald ... was always real," ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported. "And it's my understanding that Donald has a number he will play for. If it's not met, retirement can still go down. Adding years to an already existing three-year pact takes Donald well into his mid-30s, and who knows whether he wants to play that long? But that's the best way for Los Angeles to stretch out the money for cap purposes." 

The eight-time Pro Bowl selection turned 31 this week. Donald likely understands the next deal he signs will almost certainly be his last.

And he should be looking to become the game's highest-paid defender, like he was when he initially signed his six-year, $135 million deal in 2018. He held the designation for exactly one day because the then-Oakland Raiders traded Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears and signed him to a contract that included a higher total value, a greater average annual salary and more guaranteed money. 

Since that point, the Cleveland Browns' Myles Garrett, Los Angeles Chargers' Joey Bosa and Pittsburgh Steelers' T.J. Watt have surpassed both, with average annual salaries ranging from $25-28 million. Both Garrett and Bosa met or exceeded $100 million in guarantees.

Those numbers should continue to grow even without Donald reentering the market. The San Francisco 49ers' Nick Bosa and Tennessee Titans' Jeffery Simmons both entered the window to negotiate their first contract extensions this offseason. 

It's not just edge-rushers getting paid at the same level or above Donald's pay scale. Defensive tackles and corners have entered the same stratosphere, too.

Like Donald, Simmons is another interior defender. DeForest Buckner recently signed an extension with the Indianapolis Colts that's only $1.5 million short of Donald's average annual salary. The cornerback market, meanwhile, exploded within the last month. The Cleveland Browns' Denzel Ward and Green Bay Packers' Jaire Alexander now sit at $20.1 and $21 million, respectively, compared to Donald's $22.5 million annual salary. 

Donald's actual cash flow for 2022 is only $14.3 million. At that number, he'll be the NFL's 10th-highest paid interior defender in cash spent, according to Over the Cap. In fact, Donald hasn't ranked among the top three at his position since he signed the deal four years ago.

His number will enter said range in 2023 and '24, which is why it would be smart of the Rams to redo his current deal: Give the all-time great more upfront money now and extend those salary-cap hits over a longer period of time. 

Considering all of those factors and how the NFL financial landscape continues to change, Donald is well worth a deal with an average salary of $30 million or more to once again become the NFL's highest-paid defender. Tyreek Hill became the first non-quarterback to reach the number after the Miami Dolphins completed a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs for the wide receiver and handed him the contract extension.

But as talented as Hill is, Donald is the NFL's most dominant player, even in a pass-first league. 

The defensive lineman's on-field value is without question. His 502 pressures since the start of the 2017 campaign rank first, and no one else is even within 140 of his production, according to Pro Football Focus. Over the last two seasons, Donald's 28 tackles for loss or no gain are more than any other player's output. He's been a near-unstoppable force in the middle of the Rams defense, as the NFL's highest-graded defender for six straight seasons. His play has yet to show any regression.  

When the Rams needed a critical play during Super Bowl LVI against the Cincinnati Bengals, Donald obliged.

He registered seven pressures and two sacks. One of those moments couldn't have come at a more opportune time. Donald ended the contest when his quickness off the snap and ease of beating left guard Quinton Spain allowed him to pressure Joe Burrow on the Bengals' last offensive play to the point where the quarterback couldn't do anything other than hopelessly flutter a pass attempt as he crashed to the ground. 

At that moment, Donald cemented his legacy.  

A true war daddy along the defensive front must be accounted for at all times. He's both a dominant run defender and able to consistently collapse the pocket. He changes the entire complexion of a game and how an opposing offense must game-plan. Donald isn't just a great defender capable of doing these things; he's in the conversation with Lawrence Taylor and Reggie White as the greatest of all time, though it may be a tad premature to say so. 

The Rams don't seem too concerned about losing Donald in the short term. Head coach Sean McVay told reporters at the owners meetings in March that Donald's decision not to retire proved to be a "major relief." 

"We definitely have chatted with Aaron, his representation, and we're trying to come up with a win-win solution to reward Aaron but still definitely be able to continue trying to compete as a team at the highest level," general manager Les Snead said two months ago. "So, we're in progress there.

"I know Aaron's articulated to us that he would like to be back, and he would definitely like to continue to try to do special things not only as an individual player but as a team."

The Rams aren't in the red for the next two seasons in projected salary-cap space, though they don't have a ton of wiggle room. A lowered number on Donald's contract in 2022 would create extra space to use next year and help offset the extension.

Los Angeles' projected free agents for 2023 aren't overwhelming, with possible new deals for offensive tackle Rob Havenstein, guards Bobby Evans and David Edwards, running back Darrell Henderson, nose tackle Greg Gaines, defensive lineman A'Shawn Robinson, edge Justin Hollins, cornerback David Long, safety Taylor Rapp and kicker Matt Gay.

None of those should be viewed as high priorities. They're all solid players, but none of them are franchise building blocks. They certainly don't warrant the same type of attention as Donald. 

Maybe the reemergence of retirement talk this month is nothing but a strategy to get another contract extension. Even if it is, the Rams can't take the risk. They must get a new contract done and make sure Donald finishes his Hall of Fame career as the centerpiece of the franchise. Otherwise, the thought of repeating as Super Bowl champions will be gone in an instant.