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It seems like we can’t go six months without Kyrie Irving singlehandedly turning the NBA upside down.

Whether it was his trade demand from the Cavaliers in 2017, followed by a controversial departure from the Boston Celtics in 2019, and even his recent problems with anti-semitism, Irving has been embroiled in controversy for most of his career.

And his decision to request a trade from the Brooklyn Nets is just another distraction that will derail their once-promising season.

One that sportsbooks believed could have been an NBA Finals-worthy team.

The Nets opened the day on BetMGM at +700 to win the NBA Finals, tied with the Nuggets for the third-best odds. Since then, their odds have doubled to +1400, the eighth-best odds in the NBA.

Irving is far from guaranteed to be traded ahead of Thursday’s deadline, but if he is dealt, expect those odds to drop to nearly +5000.

The trade demand did interest bettors in other, more speculative, ways.

The Lakers’ NBA Finals odds also saw movement. At the time of writing, LeBron James’ team comes in at +3000 (13th-best) to win the NBA title. But those odds started at +4000 (14th-best) just minutes before the trade demand. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Lakers are expected to explore a trade for Irving. NBA insider Marc Stein also reported that the Dallas Mavericks could get involved in Irving trade talks as well.

It will be an extremely entertaining next few days in the NBA as teams put their offers in for Irving. But it is unclear who would be willing to take a flyer on the embattled star.

We do know that the Lakers already took a long look at a James-Irving reunion last season.