While Kyrie Irving has opted into his $36.5 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets, Brian Windhorst says the situation is not necessarily resolved. Windhorst opines that the Nets and Los Angeles Lakers could revisit discussions with Brooklyn thinking they could operate better without Irving this season.

"When Kyrie announced he was opting in, I was like 'okay, we can move on. This won't be a thing,' said Windhorst.

"But that's not what my phone was telling me. That's not what the executives were telling me. That's not what the agents were telling me. They are saying this ain't over, because the Nets made it clear to everybody they did not want the status quo. If nothing else changed, they were not going to be happy. They were not sure if that this satisfied that situation.

"It was not just because of the lack of the vaccine mandate. The entire way that Kyrie operated for the last couple of seasons, not just what happened with the vaccine, was part of what Sean Marks, and really by proxy Joe Tsai, was talking about at the end of the season.

"I would like to say this can be put to bed, but that's not what my sources are saying. They don't know if this is going to work."

Windhorst also said that part of the reason why the Nets have grown frustrated with Irving is due to how he treated teammates. 

"It wasn't just about the vaccine mandate," said Windhorst. "It was about Kyrie Irving treated his teammates. About the way Kyrie Irving treated his coaches. 

"So part of this renegotiation wasn't just going to be about a contract extension. It was going to be about a renegotiation of how the team operated."