What's next for the Brooklyn Nets now that Kyrie Irving has decided to exercise his player option to return for the 2022-23 season instead of potentially leaving Brooklyn via free agency this summer?
Although the Nets no longer have to worry about their most important possible free agent, there's still plenty of work to be done when NBA free agency opens Thursday at 6 p.m. ET.
Five of the eight other Brooklyn players who saw at least 10 minutes of action in the team's first-round sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics can become free agents, including starters Bruce Brown and Andre Drummond.
How can the Nets, who also must incorporate newcomer Ben Simmons after his addition at the trade deadline, improve on last year's team that had to battle through the play-in tournament just to get swept by the Celtics?
And what are Brooklyn's options with Irving now that he is heading into the final season of the contract he signed in the summer of 2019? Let's break things down for Brooklyn.