Bill Simmons earnestly suggests Spurs trade for Kyrie Irving

As the Kyrie Irving drama continues to unfold in Brooklyn, The Ringer's Bill Simmons thinks the San Antonio Spurs should bail them out. It's definitely...umm, an idea.

On Tuesday, former Spurs Assistant Coach and current Nets GM Sean Marks made the announcement that Irving wouldn't be able to play for the team in a limited role. Because of his unvaccinated status, Kyrie is ineligible to play in New York due to a state vaccine mandate.

While there was speculation that maybe Irving would be able to join the Nets for road games this season, that was abruptly put to an end with the announcement. Shortly after, The Athletic reported more about Irving's line of thinking.

If things don't change, the Brooklyn Nets will be forced to field two superstars this season instead of three -- ho hum. While their talent level certainly takes a hit without Irving available, Bill Simmons apparently thinks the Spurs could help them avoid too big of a loss.

"What if they traded him to San Antonio and got Dejounte Murray back and two contracts?" asked Simmons on his podcast.

The suggestion was met with immediate apprehension. "How do you trade for Kyrie if you're anybody right now?" responded a guest. "You do it if you're the Spurs and don't have an A-lister on the team," replied Simmons.

While no one else seemed onboard with the idea (and rightfully so), Simmons further explained that Kyrie could play every game in Texas, which is probably the only logical part of his argument. On Monday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott banned COVID-19 vaccine mandates from any entity in the state, including private businesses.

Still, the idea that the Spurs would want the distraction that Irving would bring to the team is tone-deaf at best. For one, are we aware of who the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs is? You know, the guy that's the most outspoken coach in the league and repeatedly encouraged people to get vaccinated all year?

Secondly, there's speculation that Irving would just decide to retire instead of report to a new team if he was suddenly traded. While that's hearsay from Marc Stein, would that really be hard to believe at this point?

On the basketball court, Kyrie Irving would easily be the best player on the Spurs by far -- that's not up for debate. But look at what's been going on with him just in the last few years off the court. Last season, he missed several games simply because he didn't feel like playing.

I get what Simmons is going for here by suggesting Texas would embrace Irving's unvaccinated status, but the Spurs are just about the last team in the league that would put up with the abundance of nonsense that comes with him. Thanks but no thanks, Bill.