Kyrie opt out deadline in 2-3 days right?
Yes. Thursday, June 13, is the opt-out deadline for Kyrie and Baynes.
Tuesday, June 18, is the opt-out deadline for Al Horford.
Thursday, June 20, of course, is the draft.
Kyrie will almost certainly opt-out on Thursday, given that he stands to make about 10M more next year no matter where he signs.
A key factor that folks need to remember that probably play into Kyrie's "long term plan" is that he will be eligible for the 10-year veteran max base contract of 35% of cap in two years. He's currently only eligible for 30%.
What that means is no matter where he goes, he will want to sign a new contract in either 2 or 3 years.
All the more reason to feel queasy about him coming back. We could be going through all this nonsense again in 2 years.
But isn't this basically what every team with star caliber players needs to deal with these days. Players seem to be signing shorter deals and moving around more in general. For those that want to go young, whose to say the J's won't be a flight risk when their time for free agency comes?
Right, but not every star makes his free agency into a horrible headache for the team all year long.
I've been thinking about this. What did Kyrie (and KD) do to make his free agency such a horrible headache for the team, compared to someone like Kawhi who was in the same situation? How could Kyrie have done it better, while still preserving his options?
All three could become free agents this year. Kyrie was the only one to make a verbal commitment to his team at the start of the season, KD and Kawhi didn't. Kyrie and KD's free agency seemed to be in the spotlight most of the season, but Kyrie's in particular began to make headlines because the Celtics were underperforming, and because the media had a narrative that Kawhi and KD were teaming up in NY, then all the rumors about him leaving resurfaced. Then when AD demanded a trade the media all of a sudden asked him what was going on with him, was he still re-signing, etc. and he responded by basically saying "Boston is still on top of that list" but "ask me July 1". Then the speculation never died down.
Same with KD, there was endless speculation, which eventually culminated in KD refusing to talk to the media and then throwing a hissy fit when he eventually did, after the NY-Dallas trade of Porzingis.
Meanwhile in Toronto Kawhi has basically flown under the radar the whole season. He hasn't, and still hasn't, committed to them, the Toronto media hasn't been asking him, the US media hasn't been asking him, the fans haven't been asking him, he's basically just been allowed to go about his business. Even missing 20+ games, nobody batted an eyelid vs when Kyrie missed games, people asked if he was playing sick.
The only things different I can see is a) Kawhi is a more likable person than Kyrie or KD personality wise, he doesn't make waves, he's not controversial; and b) he just didn't say anything, period and c) the media never really kept asking him. Maybe because he was in Toronto out of sight and out of mind and he just kept his mouth shut?
