Kyrie Irving is one of the most exciting players on the planet. He dazzles with his flashy handles and scores with superhuman ease. Despite his flaws (poor defense, average-at-best court vision), most NBA teams would want Kyrie Irving. So, with the news that Irving has requested a trade, it’s no surprise that two-thirds of NBA teams are clamoring to put together offers for the point guard. From ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
So far, these are among the teams who’ve made offers to the Cavaliers for Irving, league sources tell ESPN: The San Antonio Spurs, LA Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks and Miami Heat. There were approximately 20 teams that inquired with Cleveland upon the news of Irving’s trade request, league sources said, but far fewer have registered legitimate proposals. More loom in the shadows, and many simply don’t have the assets to make a deal happen.
Oftentimes, a player’s value drops a bit once it’s known that he wants out. The Cavs are looking for a big haul, though:
The Cavaliers want a package that resembles the 2011 Nuggets-Knicks deal for Carmelo Anthony — young players, win-now veterans and draft picks, league sources said. For new general manager Koby Altman, this is a textbook way to open trade discussions. But for now, most Irving suitors are using the Timberwolves-Bulls trade model for Jimmy Butler, a scaled-down model of Melo’s rich return of assets.
In exchange for Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets received Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and a first-round draft pick. Not a bad haul.
As we’ve seen this offseason, though (see the returns for Jimmy Butler and Paul George), the return for star players isn’t always as high as fans expect it to be.
