Several reports broke out Friday afternoon that Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving has asked that the club to explore trading him so that he could be a featured option on another team.
Among the four teams that are on Irving’s preferred destination list, are the San Antonio Spurs, New York Knicks, Miami Heat and Minnesota Timberwolves.
While many fans are already rushing to the ESPN trade machine, it’s important to remember that there are three sides involved in trade scenarios: Irving’s camp, the Cavaliers, and the team wishing to acquire him (Spurs, Knicks, Heat, Wolves).
In order for a trade to be completed, all three sides would need to reach an agreement and the financial aspects would need to work too.
Irving’s camp has already made it clear by providing the four places he’d like to be traded to. But, Cleveland really has the most-say so in this matter since they’re the ones who will ultimately be left with whatever they attain in return for Irving. Just because Irving gave them a wish list, that doesn’t mean they have to trade him to one of those four destinations. The Cavaliers have to do what’s best for their organization going forward without Irving if they move him.
The question for the Cavs is which direction are they heading toward? There’s wide speculation LeBron James will be leaving next summer when he’s an unrestricted free agent and if Irving’s dealt, should the Cavs start preparing for a rebuild?
Looking at the Spurs, since they don’t have high first round picks due to their sustained winning, the most intriguing player they could offer to Cleveland is Dejounte Murray, who also shares the same agent with LeBron James. If Cleveland was sold on wanting Murray, they’d need to be willing to take on LaMarcus Aldridge’s contract as well, or if Danny Green is who the Cavaliers want with Murray, then a third team would likely need to get involved.
Then there’s also the other teams – the Knicks, Heat and Wolves. The Knicks aren’t expected to produce a winning season and since they own their 2018 first round pick, that could be intriguing to Cleveland if they head into a rebuilding situation.
Project Spurs will continue to monitor the latest news regarding Irving and his interest in the Spurs.
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