The Kyrie saga is getting a little weirder today, with rumours that he would opt out of the last year of his deal and sign the MLE (around $5m) with the Lakers. If LeBron were to leave the Lakers next year, they'd have the cap room to sign Kyrie to the max, but if LeBron stays, Kyrie's not any further ahead. He'd have to resign with the Lakers for at least two more years after that before they'd get the bird rights necessary to max him without cap space. So it's a pretty big risk for him.
I keep harping on the new CBA and TV deal, and a great example of its influence is Harden, who is rumoured to be opting into the last year of his contract and signing a two year max extension. That would get him to 2025, which is the first year of the new TV deal and likely a crazy-rich offseason. A lot of teams will be clearing cap space, a lot of top free agents will be available, and there's the potential for a huge jump in the cap. Both Harden and the 76ers benefit from that arrangement. It's exactly the sort of deal Kyrie should try to get from the Nets, with the agreement that the Nets will try to facilitate a trade (and the shorter length of the contract makes it highly-tradeable).
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