With the Boston Celtics second round NBA Playoffs loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in five games, it is a good time for the Chicago Bulls to pursue Kyrie Irving.
Upgrading at point guard is a massive priority for the Chicago Bulls this summer to get this starting five and rotation in general up to par to reach the brink of playoff contention in the Eastern Conference. There’s two superstar targets that the Bulls should at least try for in free agency too. Those two star point guards set to hit the free agent market are Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets and Kyrie Irving of the Boston Celtics.
Walker saw his All-Star season end with the Hornets just shy of landing a playoff spot. Instead, the Brooklyn Nets and Detroit Pistons landed the two bottom seeds in the playoff picture in the East. Walker had to be tooling around with different options he has in re-signing with the Hornets or landing at another spot this summer already.
Yet, Irving just had his season come to an end with the Celtics second round playoff loss to the top seeded Milwaukee Bucks on May 8. After Irving and the Celtics won their first five gamesmanship in the NBA Playoffs against the five-seed Indiana Pacers and the Bucks, they lost four straight to get eliminated in disappointing fashion.
There was also a pretty awkward press conference after that Game Five loss to the Bucks for Irving. A reporter asked Irving about his free agency plans for the summer. He awkwardly shut down that question leaving a lot of doubt as to where his intentions lie.
The chance for the Hornets and Celtics to both bring back Walker and Irving respectively is definitely there. Both franchises might want to move in different directions with the results for each this season and the overwhelming contract size that Irving and Walker will command.
The #Knicks are now the favorite to land Kyrie Irving in free agency, per @betonline_ag pic.twitter.com/u0RTL2CSjW
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) May 9, 2019
It appears as if Walker could command a price tag above $200 million if his lengthy contract demands are met this off-season. With the star power that Kemba brings to the table and the pure number of suitors that need elite point guard help, he could get that elsewhere from Charlotte. The Hornets might also want to get away from the current status quo of middling in the standings in the East almost every year with Kemba in the fold.
The most recent odds to land Kyrie Irving on the free agent market include a ton of big market franchises in the East including the New York Knicks, Nets, and staying put with the Celtics. The Chicago Bulls were nowhere to be found on that list of odds, but John Paxson and Gar Forman could emerge as dark horses in the pursuit of Kyrie Irving