It's interesting that Kyrie listed us as one of his preferred landing spots, but the fact that his contract doesn't have a No Trade Clause means he really doesn't have any leverage or control over where he goes. I'm not getting my hopes up.
The gift and curse with a no trade clause is teams will be reluctant to trade key assets for a player that will not sign an extension to stay long term. A team like OKC didn't have any leverage, so they had to try anything to make Westbrook stay. So trading for Paul George is a huuuge risk but a hi reward if somehow they make it to the NBA Finals. So it's in Clevelands best interest to trade with one of Irvings requested teams in hopes of scoring some good assets to help the team win now but also try to appease LeBron James. I still think we have the best pieces next to Minnesota. Dragic, Winslow, Tyler Johnson, Josh Richardson, and Draft Picks. Not sure about NBA trade rules but I'll even throw in Dion Waiters if the Cavs want him also.
That's a very good point. Dragic would definitely have to be part of the move. Getting rid of TJ's poison pill contract would be a plus as well. I'd be a little more reluctant to trade our younger guys, but at the end of the day this is a star driven league and Irving is a proven star. Keep in mind that since this has become public, Kyrie's trade value may have taken a little hit. It may take less from us to get him.
Yeah! I think the Paul George, Jimmy Butler, and Chris Paul trades have shown the league that it doesn't take much extortion from teams like the Cavs to expect in return for their star players that want out. Because it's either have Irving leave without getting anything in return or get whatever you can get before he walks. Side note - Justice Winslow is so expandable it's not even funny. This team didn't skip a beat when he was gone last season. His offensive game is piss poor and the team clicked when he went down. We have James Johnson, Kelly Oleynik, and the rookie from Kentucky that looks way better offensively and defensively then Winslow (kinda like a young Shawn Kemp). IJS...
THIS! After what happened with the big 3, everyone thought no star player would want to come down here anymore. Nahhh.. Heat culture >>
Will be tough to win with Kylie holding the ball so much. Maybe he can reinvent himself and become a facilitator who can defend...lol
I actually think this would be an ideal situation for Kyrie, team like ours who's identity is in our depth with multiple defenders and ballhandlers. Just as well, we could use an iso weapon of Kyrie's caliber. Gilbert would likely never deal with us and seek better deal anyway
Exactly. Two best spots for him is minny or spurs. minny because they are young and up coming and thibs will demand him to play defense, spurs becuase he will be back in title contention and with a healthy kawhi and HOPEFULLY a motivated Lamarcus the spurs could beat the warriors in 7 but they gotta steal one in the bay which will be hard but coach pop the best coach in the league i know he will cook up a fiya gameplan
Nah Lamarcus is a fraud lol. If anyone can get Kyrie to change his game a bit it would def be Pop though, but he can't be dribbling the ball for 20 seconds to take a contested step back or tough one legged floater in traffic over there hahaha. I just think that Kyrie is buying into himself a little bit too much. He's great but way too one dimensional. People are trying to compare him to Kobe because Kobe was a 1 on 1 player, but Kobe could score in a lot of different ways and was a better playmaker overall imo lol
Dion didn't really change though he finally ended up in the right situation where he could cook. Can't wait to see how the team does though. I'm west coast so prob won't get to see a lot of games On another note, salty that I ordered one of those long sleeve warm up shirts of nba store and they sent the wrong shirt, and the one i wanted is out of stock now
Dion traded a lot of his long 2s for 3s and went for a career high in AST % while playing the best defense of his career
Yea and kobe was 6'6. i dont think people realize that...like thats what makes lebron and kd special, not just their talent but they are doing things at their size we never seen. I hate to sound like im reaching but im not BUT i can walk down to my local gym and find at least 30 "diet" kyries (5'11-6'2 cats with handles that dribble too much and can score) of course they arent as talented as kyrie but their game resembles kyrie. I have never been in a gym and seen a kd,lebron, and ive balled with some guys 6'6 and up and they were all back to the basket type dudes.lol
Lmao. True that Locally, most people I've played with that are over 6'1 are uncoordinated back to the basket dude But yeah Kyrie's game to me doesn't make him a viable #1 option on a true contending team. Which makes what AI did with his squad so amazing And that's true, D. Wait did seem to play smarter in terms of shot selection and what not. I'm in Cali though so was only able to really catch highlights lol
Didn't have a great sophomore season numbers wise but showed a lot of flashes, looked a lot smoother offensively than in his first year. Of course injuries affected his numbers, including his defensive numbers, so let's hope this is the year to recoup. Videos for comparison