Just because a Kyrie Irving for Damian Lillard swap is possible, doesn’t mean it’s worth speaking into existence.
So, Kyrie Irving wants a trade. Everyone — and I mean everyone — wants some crazy trade haul for the Cavs that still allows them to compete for a championship.
This boils down to what teams could provide what Cleveland needs, and how much is too much for a team to offer in exchange for Irving’s services.
Kyrie is dubbed a “flight risk” for a couple reasons.
He wants to leave the Cavs, after going to the NBA Finals three years in a row. He even won his team the 2016 Finals; who wouldn’t love that opportunity?
And, his contract could be up in two years. He holds a player option for the 2019-20 season.
Even if he gets dealt this year, who wholeheartedly would believe Kyrie will be happy enough in any situation to accept that option?
All of these should make any team quiver when trading for him. It’s also resulted in people gauging how good Kyrie really is:
- Can he be the true No.1? His track record pre-LeBron on Cleveland points to no.
- Can he get the same shots when the world’s greatest player isn’t also on his team? That’s a bet a suspecting team would have to make.
- Is Kyrie a top five point guard? Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, John Wall, Chris Paul and Damian Lillard would beg to differ, and that’s not even mentioning Kyle Lowry, Isaiah Thomas or Mike Conley.
And, it’s in Lillard the media is ready to wage debate and comparisons on.