Kyrie Irving’s blueprint: Nets need for championship pieces is ‘glaring,’ ‘transparent’

In a post-game comment following Wednesday night’s loss, Kyrie Irving suggested that if the Nets want to win a championship, they’ll need to “add one more piece, two more pieces,” saying that he intends to “reiterate” the issue this summer, presumably to ownership and management.

Irving cited the Nets injuries as a rationale for the team’s so far disappointing season, but said it was both “glaring” and “transparent” that the Nets needed help to take the final step to go to the “next level.” Until then, he said, the team will have to “do the best we can with the guys we have.”

He also seemed to suggest that he and Kevin Durant knew the Nets needed more help when they signed last summer. The comments were part of a lengthy discussion following the loss. Those related to the need for additional pieces starts 4:18 in.

“I mean it’s out there. It’s transparent. It’s glaring,” he began. “In terms of the pieces we need to be at the next level. I’m going to continue to reiterate it. We’re going to do the best we can with the guys we have in our locker room now and we’ll worry about all the other stuff, in terms of moving all the pieces and everything else, as an organization down the line in the summer.

In an apparent reference to him and KD, Irving continued...

“It’s just something we signed up for. We knew what we were coming in for at the beginning of the season.”

Then, he referenced all the injuries the team has suffered.

“Guys were going down left and right. GT is out. DJ just got hurt tonight. WIlson is coming back. We’ve got complementary young guys as well that have done a great job the last three years.”

Summing up, Irving noted...

“Collectively I feel we have great pieces, but it’s pretty glaring that we need more piece, two more pieces that will complement myself, KD, DJ (DeAndre Jordan), GT (Garrett Temple), Spencer (Dinwiddie), Caris (LeVert) and we’ll see how that evolves.”

While he pointedly didn’t mention Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince or Joe Harris, he could very well have included them in his description of “complementary young guys.” Hard to know. The Nets of course signed most of their key pieces to long-term deals last summer, a seeming indication that they believed in the roster.

It’s not unique for a team’s superstar —and Irving IS a superstar— to offer suggestions on his team’s roster. Doing it publicly is rarer.

Irving did express some optimism when asked about how he thinks he, Dinwiddie and LeVert will ultimately work.

“I mean, we’ve only played a few minutes. We haven’t logged in enough minutes to kind of say that we need to still work out some kinks. I know I said it the other day, but we still have to get this adjustment period going. At the same time, we’ve got to log in those minutes,” he said.

“Right now, we have Joe at that three-spot, so you know we’re playing between LeVert, Dinwiddie or myself. I think that once we figure that out, we’ll be okay.”

• Kyrie Irving knows the Nets need upgrades beyond Durant: “It’s pretty glaring we need one more piece or two more pieces.” - Stefan Bondy - New York Daily News
• Kyrie Irving says team’s needs ‘glaring’ after Nets fall to 76ers - Tim Bontemps - ESPN
• Kyrie Irving: Nets have ‘glaring’ needs — even with Kevin Durant - Brian Lewis - New York Post
• Kyrie Irving: Nets Have ‘Glaring’ Needs Beyond Durant - Ryan Chatelain - WFAN
• ‘City Game’ Podcast: Kyrie Irving’s Comments, New York Post Reporter Brian Lewis (Audio) - Steve Lichtenstein - WFAN