NBA Rumors: Latest Buzz on Kyrie Irving, Kristaps Porzingis and More
It's the middle of August, a time generally seen as one of the few down times for NBA news. But thanks to Kyrie Irving and his recent reported trade demand, the rumor mill is still churning.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski recently provided new details on the chase for Irving, offering clues about players and packages the Cleveland Cavaliers might be interested in.
Elsewhere, reports of the New York Knicks' Kristaps Porzingis being off the table have surfaced. And all the while, the Phoenix Suns seem to be in play.
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What are the Cavaliers Looking For in an Irving Trade?
In a report from ESPN.com's Wojnarowski, several young players from around the league were listed as possible targets for the Cavs:
"The process of building out the franchise's roster long term has accelerated with Irving's trade request. The Cavaliers have witnessed James' exit strategy twice—once to leave Cleveland and once to return—and the Irving trade request has left them unwilling to squander the opportunity to replenish young assets on a roster that could be crippled in a post-James Cavaliers era that is stocked with high-priced veterans.
"The Cavaliers find themselves far more fixated on a young star, including New York's Kristaps Porzingis, Boston's Jayson Tatum, Phoenix's Josh Jackson and Denver's Jamal Murray, league sources told ESPN."
Cleveland wanting to avoid rock bottom for the second time in one decade is understandable. When LeBron James left in 2010, the team was left in shambles. It went 97-215 (.311) during LeBron's four years in Miami.
Irving, of course, would be a solid centerpiece for a post-LeBron organizational strategy. But him beating James out the door could actually help the Cavs survive this potential departure from LeBron far better than they did previously.
Tatum and Jackson are as unproved (maybe even more so) than Irving was during 2011-12. Porzingis and Murray, though, have shown a little bit of what they can do at the NBA level.
Porzingis would be the biggest get for Cleveland, but, as will be detailed later, he's probably not available. That leaves Murray, a 20-year old whose rookie-season Box Plus-Minus was better than Devin Booker's, per Basketball Reference.
Murray's first year in the league didn't show as much as Irving's, but there are certainly hints of the latter's game in him. And if he came along with another good player and some picks, this could actually be a win for the Cavs.
Is Kristaps Porzingis Off the Table?
As much as Cleveland might like getting a 7'3" player who's 22 years old and loaded with guard skills, it looks like the Knicks are wisely keeping him out of trade discussions.
"The Knicks don't appear interested in trading Kristaps Porzingis, including a possible deal for Cavaliers All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, according to a league source,"Steven Marcus and Mike Rose of Newsday wrote.
Again, this is probably the right course of action for New York. No player in NBA history can match Porzingis' totals for career threes (193) and blocks (263) through two seasons, per Basketball Reference.
Even if you drop the qualifiers down to 150 for both blocks and threes, the list only includes Porzingis, Shane Battier, Eddie Griffin and Rudy Gay. All three of those other players are at least five inches shorter than Porzingis.
He could very well be the embodiment of the NBA's next positional revolution, a center who can legitimately do everything on the floor. He'll have competition for that mantle, of course. Nikola Jokic and Karl-Anthony Towns are further down the path. But Porzingis has the edge on both in terms of size and athleticism.
Who Will the Phoenix Suns Offer?
As noted by Wojnarowski, one of the players the Cavs may be looking at in potential Irving trades is Suns rookie Josh Jackson. But it looks like him, and possibly Devin Booker, would be tough to land.
"League sources continue to label the Suns as the team with the right assets to obtain Irving," Basketball Insiders' Steve Kyler wrote. "But they remain reluctant to include rookie Josh Jackson or third-year stud Devin Booker in any conversation. Jackson became trade eligible last week and recently joked at the Panini rookie photo shoot that he'd heard the rumors, but if it were going to happen, it would have happened by now."
Advanced numbers aren't a fan of Booker, who finished 168th out of 194 qualified players in Box Plus-Minus last season, per Basketball Reference. He struggles to provide much value beyond scoring at this point in his career, and he's not terribly efficient there.
But his 70-point game is tantalizing. Even if his whole team was helping him hunt shots in that second half, that's an insane output for a 20-year old. In fact, he was the youngest player since 1963 to hit or exceed 70 points in a game by over three years, per Basketball Reference. It also yielded the highest individual Game Score of the 2016-17 season, again, per Basketball Reference.
A one-game sample size is minuscule. But Phoenix's hesitance to include Booker in a deal for Irving is understandable. Jackson, on the other hand, is tougher to figure out.
Irving is still just 25 years old. He's one of 12 players in NBA history to register at least 8,000 points, 2,000 assists and 500 threes through his first six seasons, per Basketball Reference. And he's already a proven option as a scorer at the game's highest level.
In 13 Finals games, Irving has averaged 27.7 points, 4.2 assists and 4.2 rebounds, while shooting 46.8 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from three.
Jackson may be loaded with two-way potential. But the chances of him reaching Irving's level are slim. They'd be slim for any incoming rookie.
If Phoenix has a chance to get Irving in a deal centered on Jackson, it should pull the trigger.
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