Kyrie Irving won’t sign a contract extension with Celtics this summer

The Boston Celtics are coming off a promising season. The past year saw them fall just a win shy of reaching the NBA Finals in eight years.

The focus has now quickly shifted toward All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving’s contract situation. Irving is set to enter the fourth year of his five-year,  $94.3 million deal. He also has a player option for the 2019-20 season. Despite there being a chance to possibly work out with a new extension, Irving has voiced that he doesn’t want to do that this summer, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPN.

“Contractually, financially, [an extension] just doesn’t make any sense,” Irving said.

This decision would likely prevent Irving from being able to garner a max contract in the summer of 2019. This is clearly a ploy to get the most out of the next deal. If it works, it could see him become one of the highest-paid players in the league.

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It has also put some doubt that he will remain in Boston for the long haul given that he can hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent where he could sign elsewhere. The New York Knicks have commonly been mentioned as a possible choice given his previous desire to play with the team.

Read: LeBron James Future Props

All of this could certainly switch things up with the Celtics having to evaluate if Irving is in their long-term plans beyond this season. He is one of the league’s top point guards that has developed into a premier scorer. There could certainly be much more to come on this front over the offseason.