On an otherwise slow Friday afternoon during the dog days of the NBA summer, one tweet woke up the basketball universe from its slumber:
The report from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst that four-time all-star Kyrie Irving has asked for a trade comes just a day after news surfaced that the Cavaliers were in ‘serious’ negotiations with another former first overall pick — free agent point guard Derrick Rose.
The Irving rumour also comes amid what has been a relatively disastrous off-season for the three-time defending Eastern Conference champs.
It started with the firing of general manager David Griffin, a smoke signal that all was not right in Cleveland — though one that may have been slightly overblown. Griffin was in charge when the Cavaliers drafted Anthony Bennett first overall, and acquiesced to LeBron James when the Cavs superstar wanted his team to ink Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith to high-paying long-term deals that are currently impeding Cleveland’s flexibility and ability to improve the roster.
But Griffin’s firing, and owner Dan Gilbert’s reported reluctance to shell out a competitive salary for his replacement, wasn’t exactly a glowing sign of the state of the Cavs.
What followed was a string of wildly uninspiring moves, the “highlights” being the signing of free agents Jose Calderon and Jeff Green, and re-signing Kyle Korver to a three-year, $22 million deal fresh off a post-season in which the 36-year-old averaged a whopping 5.8 points per game on 39 per cent shooting from deep.
Out West, the Golden State Warriors retained free agent Kevin Durant on a bargain deal, locked in Steph Curry long-term, and re-signed 2015 Finals MVP Andre Igoudala. They also brought in a talented shooter in Nick Young and acquired an effective rookie big man in Jordan Bell on draft night. In short: they got better. Meanwhile, Cleveland’s primary competition in the East, the Boston Celtics, added an all-star just entering his prime in Gordon Hayward, and drafted another highly-promising player in Jayson Tatum.
Cleveland? It stayed the same or probably got worse, given how its veteran-laden roster is likely to decline in skill as it ages. Throw in the rumours swirling all summer that LeBron James, who has one year remaining on his current deal, is a bona fide flight risk next off-season, and you can see why Irving may be eying a change of scenery.
But it is somewhat confusing that, if the Cavs may be close to hitting the ‘reset’ button after this season, Irving would want to leave because he wants a chance to be “the man,” something he could conceivably achieve in Cleveland should James leave.
From Windhorst:
[blockquote]When Irving signed his deal [a four-year extension signed in 2014], he expected to be the franchise player for the foreseeable future. But about two weeks later, [LeBron] James arrived from Miami. The sudden change of situation rocked Irving, and he has vacillated at times over the past three years about working as a secondary star to James and the original plan of having his own team… James was informed of Irving’s request and was blindsided and disappointed, sources said. Other members of the team have learned of Irving’s intentions in recent days as well.[/blockquote]
It’s more likely that Irving simply doesn’t want to wait for the Cavaliers to start from the bottom again— he led the team before James arrived, but with a terrible team around him that never won more than 33 games in a season. That Irving is obviously better now than in his early years in the NBA means a repeat performance as Cleveland’s one-man show would probably result in more wins, but not many.
You’d have to imagine Irving wonders what a life without LeBron may have looked like. After all, it was James that pushed the Cavs to trade Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love, a move that has helped the team reach three consecutive Finals and win its first championship two seasons ago. But a pairing of Irving, Wiggins, and whomever else the team signed or drafted in the years that followed could have made for an exciting core. Irving wouldn’t have the playoff experience he’s gained, or the popularity for that matter, but he would definitely have been ‘the man’ and the undisputed alpha dog on his team, if that’s truly what he’s after.
With three years and $60 million remaining on his contract, Irving comes at a bargain price in today’s NBA marketplace, but his talents are such that you’d imagine there would be a long lineup of teams waiting to land the 25-year-old regardless of the cost.
Irving is good. He’s a truly elite scorer— arguably the best ball-handler in the NBA and almost surely the best in the league at finishing at the rim— whose best years are still ahead of him. Detractors will say his one-on-one act partly cost the Cavaliers a chance at the title this past season, and it’s true that his score-first approach from the point guard position forced the Cavaliers to play more iso ball than what would’ve been ideal during the post-season. But he’s absolutely a player worth building around.
Whether or not Irving is dealt is up in the air at present. But if he does it should have serious repercussions in the East. As is almost always the case when dealing superstars, the chances of Cleveland trading Irving and getting a player of similar ability in return is just shy of impossible. In the 2017-18 season, that won’t matter much because, well, LeBron James is still on the team. But after that? Does James stick around? Probably not. Suddenly the notion that every team in the East is fighting for second place, or the chance to lose to the Cavs in the conference Finals wouldn’t carry weight any longer.
It means teams like the Raptors, Celtics, Wizards, Heat — who knows, maybe even the 76ers — would all suddenly be legitimately competing for a Finals berth.
In the NBA, the balance between individual glory and team success can often be shaky, particularly for a player of Irving’s all-world ability. And as we’re about to find out in Irving’s case, whichever one of the two a player values more can significantly alter the landscape of the league.
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