Kyrie Irving rumors: Lakers, Knicks among five potential destinations 

Kyrie Irving, without hyperbole, might genuinely be the most complicated trade candidate in NBA history.

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This is not simply a matter of risk vs. reward. We're talking about one of the more unpredictable players the NBA has ever seen.

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He's pledged to stay with every team he's ever departed.

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He pledged not to retire last season as well… how confident would an acquiring team be in him keeping his word?

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You'd have to do it with the understanding that he's going to miss games due to injury, and he's going to miss games for reasons other than injury as well.

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He's going to say bizarre things. He's going to make your coach's life difficult.

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And he's going to make the biggest shots of your season. That's what makes finding a reasonable trade so difficult.

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Irving is the rare player who might actually be good enough to justify this sort of dysfunction, and the Nets know it.

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Trading him would make them worse on the court.

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It might even take them out of championship contention. There is simply no way, given the risk he poses, that any team acquiring him would give the Nets fair value back in a deal.

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Coming in, it would be a potential lose-lose situation for both parties involved.

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