The Brooklyn Nets find themselves in a 3-0 hole against the Boston Celtics in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, prompting some talking heads to begin to take a closer look at the future of the team. Kyrie Irving has a player option for the 2022-23 season, under which he would make $36.5 million next season, should he opt in. On Sunday, Stephen A. Smith made a bold take regarding how much money Irving should make in his next contract, and he didn't hold back.

“Kyrie Irving is box office. This brother deserves $50 million a year. I would never give him a long term contract again. He cannot be trusted. You pay him one year at a time. I don't care how much money he gets, but you give it to him one year at a time. You know why? Because you gotta make sure he's going to show up to work. This man has played more than 11 seasons in this NBA. He has played over 60 games four times, and there's 82 games in a season. He is one of the absolute professionals at missing work. I'm not giving him a long-term deal, you've got to be crazy,” Smith said via NBA Countdown.

It's certainly a bold take from the ESPN talking head, who declared he'd be willing to pay Irving as much as $50 million per season, but would never sign him on a deal beyond one year. Smith blasted Irving for a lack of accountability and left a scathing review on how Irving wasn't trustworthy enough for a team to rely on him beyond a single-season contract.

Since joining the Nets in 2019, Irving has featured in a total of 103 regular-season games across three years. He sat out most of this season due to his refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine. In all, Irving played in 29 games this season, averaging 27.4 points, 5.8 assists, and 4.4 rebounds per game.

It's unclear if he plans to opt out of his current deal with the Nets in hopes of locking down a new contract. Regardless of Irving's intentions, Smith has made clear that under no circumstances would he advise any team to sign Irving on more than a one-year contract.