What did Draymond Green say about Joe Tsai not wanting to trade Kyrie Irving? "Billionaire petty" comment explained
Early in the season, it seemed as though Kyrie Irving was on his way out of Brooklyn. On the court, the team struggled. Ben Simmons repeatedly fouled out of games, while off the court, Irving stirred up drama by sharing antisemitic material online.
After then verbally sparring with a reporter and tip-toeing around an apology, Irving wound up getting suspended by the team and was forced to try and remedy the situation. During that time, the Nets also parted ways with head coach Steve Nash.
Theories began to fly regarding potential trades the team could make for Simmons and Irving while retaining Kevin Durant; however, they ultimately went nowhere. Last week, when Irving requested a trade out of Brooklyn, the first thing that sprang to mind was that he was headed to LA. As it turns out, Joe Tsai made sure that didn't happen.
Draymond Green spoke about Tsai allegedly wanting to send Kyrie somewhere other than LA on a recent episode of The Draymond Green Show.
"I am told that they would not trade him to the Lakers, and that is what I call billionaire petty. That is Joe Tsai saying 'listen man, that's where he want to go? I don't care if they offer the best deal or not, I can be petty too.' And billionaire petty is a different level of petty, and not many people can compete with billionaire petty."
You can see his comments in the video above, beginning shortly before the 28-minute mark.
Did Joe Tsai really trade Kyrie Irving to Dallas to be petty?
Given everything Kyrie Irving put the Brooklyn Nets organization through, it wouldn't be a surprise if Tsai really traded him to Dallas instead of the LA Lakers just to be petty.
Let's take a look at the two packages reportedly offered by the two teams. While initial reports over the summer suggested that the Nets would get two first-round picks for Irving along with Russell Westbrook, that wasn't the case.
Ian Begley reported that the Lakers actually offered Russell Westbrook and a first-round pick for Irving. This seems to make a good case for Joe Tsai not being petty by trading Kyrie Irving to the Mavericks.
When looking at the deal that was finalized, it's clear why Tsai agreed to the offer from Dallas. The trade saw the Nets receive Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a first-round draft pick, and two second-round picks.
On top of the bag of picks, both Dinwiddie and Finney-Smith are under contract for at least one more year, as opposed to Russell Westbrook. Although Tsai may have preferred to find another destination for Irving, it seems as though the offer from Dallas was too good to pass up.
What do you make of the situation? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!