What does David Griffin know about Kyrie Irving and Nets?

During an NBA TV discussion of Kyrie Irving’s next destination, everyone but David Griffin, the former Cavaliers GM, thought Irving was headed to New York, as in the Knicks, when he becomes a free agent in July. Not so fast, argued Griffin.

“I think Brooklyn is the fit that’s better for him in terms of his mindset,” Griffin said of Irving.

When asked why, Griffin replied it’s about the Nets’ culture.

“I think he likes what they’ve done there, culturally. I think that’s why Boston spoke to him as well,” he said.

How much does Griffin know? He was the GM when Irving played in Cleveland and reportedly was close to him. And he’s a pretty conservative commentator.

There have been other rumors that the Nets will pursue Irving or Jimmy Butler. That would seem to counter intuitive. The Nets, with D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert, have their strongest talent pool at the 1 and 2. Also, how attractive could the Nets be to an Irving and Butler? There’s a lot of guys in that mix who are very much ball-dominant. Of course, that could all change before 3:00 p.m. Thursday at the trade deadline.

Still, if Griffin is parroting Irving’s mindset rather than speculating, it would suggest, again, that the Nets are becoming an attractive landing spot. Two days ago, Mark Stein of the Times revealed that Kristaps Porzingis had put the Nets on a very short list —like four— of teams he’d like to play for.