If Kyrie Irving isn’t taking a significant pay cut, he ain’t going to the Phoenix Suns. News broke on Thursday that the former Nets All-Star — as expected — intends to meet with the Suns when free agency begins on Friday at 6 p.m. Given the financial restraints the Suns already face after trading for Bradley Beal, and the more restrictive handicap looming if they do trade for Irving, it’s hard to see Thursday’s news cycle as anything more than a negotiation tactic. Unless Irving is willing to forego the bag and take a pay cut north of $10M to give the Suns flexibility to fill the roster out with veteran’s minimum contracts, a reunion with Kevin Durant out West is difficult to envision. Acquiring a player via sign-and-trade hard caps a team at the tax apron, which is $171M this summer.