Kyrie Irving definitely considered taking the taxpayer mid-level exception to play for the Lakers

Jake Fischer: ‘Kyrie Irving definitely was considering taking the taxpayer mid-level exception to play for the Lakers before he opted in. That’s just the truth. He was definitely talking about it with people in his circle. And people on the league, we’re talking about that reality, because that was the only way for him to get to the Lakers this season.
Source: Marc Stein @ marcstein.substack.com

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Chris Sheridan @sheridanhoops
Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving is out there at odds as high as 150-1 for MVP. If he is throwing lobs to Ayton …
sidelines.io/nba/can-kyrie-… – 9:29 AM

Sam Vecenie @Sam_Vecenie
Game Theory Podcast: @dieter is here! Some Pre-Free Agency stuff
-Dejounte Murray to ATL!
-What does a potential Jalen Brunson to NYK fit look like?
-Kyrie and Harden options!
-My love for the movie Interceptor!
APPLE: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gam…
WATCH: youtube.com/watch?v=QSGIIO… – 9:08 AM

Sam Vecenie @Sam_Vecenie
GAME THEORY PODCAST LIVE! @dieter IS BACK!
We run through all the NBA madness across the league.
-Dejounte Murray deal
-Jalen Brunson
-Kyrie back to Brooklyn
-James Harden taking less?
-Wiz/Nuggets deal
-John Wall!
WATCH LIVE IN 10 MINUTES: https://t.co/Af08xrSaAl pic.twitter.com/ARIle68UnJ – 12:11 AM

Lang Greene @LangGreene
Crazy. The two teams KD and Kyrie CHOSE to LEAVE, willingly, just got finished battling in the NBA Finals. – 11:27 PM

Kamenetzky Brothers @KamBrothers
For the sickos who like to watch, Wednesday’s @LockedOnLakers pod, YouTube version. We talk with @Jovan Buha about Russ opting in, the possibility of still trading him, the Lakers-Kyrie talks, Malik Monk’s future and more. @LockedOnNBAPods @LockedOnNetwork
youtu.be/17BqAWo8vlw?t=… – 6:26 PM

Kristian Winfield @Krisplashed
Nets sold Patty Mills as a culture-driver last season. Tough to see him go. He posted a career-high 11.4 PPG last season but was worn down by the minutes played in the absence of Kyrie Irving and James Harden. Great get by @Brian Lewis – 6:01 PM

Austin Krell @NBAKrell
James Harden asked out of BKN, underperformed, and is open to taking less money to help his team.
He was criticized for quitting on BKN, while Kyrie Irving selfishly missed more than half of the season due to personal decisions and then tried to force the Nets into a max deal. – 5:13 PM

Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
Kyrie Irving remains with Nets, but latest comments reminder drama far from over nba.nbcsports.com/2022/06/29/kyr… – 4:46 PM

Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
Either the 76ers are pulling off some serious cap wizardry or Kyrie Irving distracted us from the fact that James Harden is actually the one taking a $30M pay cut. – 3:38 PM

Mike Mazzeo @MazzNYC
DraftKings’ Johnny Avello and Caesars’ Craig Mucklow weigh in on pricing the Nets in the NBA futures market given the continued uncertainty over Kyrie Irving’s future playny.com/brooklyn-nets-… – 3:14 PM

Jeff Goodman @GoodmanHoops
Kyrie Irving Returns to Nets + Is Jaylen Brown Disrespected? | Bob Ryan & Jeff Goodman Podcast | Powered by @HireOnLinkedIn twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1… – 3:00 PM

Eric Pincus @EricPincus
Latest @BleacherReport Would Any of These 4 Teams Help Lakers, Nets Trade Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving? – If, after the dust settles from their mutual opt-ins, the teams look to revisit a swap, is there a third team willing to take on RW? How? bleacherreport.com/articles/10040… – 2:50 PM

StatMuse @statmuse
Collin Sexton in his last season:
24.3 PPG
3.1 RPG
4.4 APG
LeBron and Kyrie are the only other Cavs with those stats or better in a season. pic.twitter.com/9JJ0GybbkS – 1:52 PM

Chris Sheridan @sheridanhoops
More on #Knicks later. For now, can Kyrie Irving of #Nets win MVP? Ex-teammate thinks it is possible. Odds are as high as 150-1. sidelines.io/nba/can-kyrie-… – 12:20 PM

Zach Lowe @ZachLowe_NBA
ICYMI yesterday: Lowe Post podcast previewing all things free agency/trade w/ @Bobby Marks: Kyrie’s opt-in, then our 5 Most Intriguing free agency teams: Mavs, Nets, Bulls, Hawks, Spurs, Wolves, Sixers, much more:
Apple: apple.co/3NwVTaq
Spotify: spoti.fi/3nopYyg – 11:30 AM

Kamenetzky Brothers @KamBrothers
Wednesday’s @LockedOnLakers podcast w/@Jovan Buha! We discuss Russ opting in, how close the Lakers got to a Kyrie deal, Malik Monk’s Laker future, free agent targets and more! #FirstListen @LockedOnNetwork @LockedOnNBAPods
Subscribe. Rate. Enjoy. Thx!
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rus… – 10:48 AM

More on this storyline

“When Kyrie announced he was opting in, I was like ‘okay, we can move on. This won’t be a thing,’ said Windhorst. “But that’s not what my phone was telling me. That’s not what the executives were telling me. That’s not what the agents were telling me. They are saying this ain’t over, because the Nets made it clear to everybody they did not want the status quo. If nothing else changed, they were not going to be happy. They were not sure if that this satisfied that situation. -via RealGM / June 30, 2022

“It was not just because of the lack of the vaccine mandate. The entire way that Kyrie operated for the last couple of seasons, not just what happened with the vaccine, was part of what Sean Marks, and really by proxy Joe Tsai, was talking about at the end of the season. “I would like to say this can be put to bed, but that’s not what my sources are saying. They don’t know if this is going to work.” -via RealGM / June 30, 2022

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Get Up that organizations will keep calling about both Irving and Kevin Durant: “Teams are going to continue to touch base with Brooklyn to make sure that they plan to keep this group together,” Wojnarowski said. -via Bleacher Report / June 30, 2022