The NBA offseason just took a full 360 as Kyrie Irving has asked the Cleveland Cavaliers to trade him, according to The Associated Press. He either wants to be traded to New York, Miami, San Antonio or Minnesota. Now Irving going to the San Antonio Spurs makes sense based on history and playing under a hall of fame coach in Gregg Popovich. But if he is traded to the New York Knicks in some miraculous way, they can be a legit playoff contender.
Over the past 15 years, the Knicks have been nothing more than a dumpster fire. No stability and being mediocre didn’t translate to wins for the fans. Trading for Carmelo Anthony looks to be one of the worst trades in franchise history as far as production on the court. He’s a one trick pony who doesn’t elevate his teammates and cares about scoring in one-on-one situations. It’s time to move from the 33-year-old, who also wants to get out and has nagging injuries.
By replacing him with Irving, who is an NBA champion and a four-time all-star, the Knicks found themselves a franchise player. Furthermore, they also got themselves a top 5-10 point guard capable of making ridiculous shots, carry a team offensively on his back and isn’t afraid to shine in big moments. At 25 years old, Irving is averaging 21.6 points, 5.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds shooting 46 percent from the field.
Yes he is a scorer like Melo, but is arguably the most unguardable one-on-one player in the game. Putting him with Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr., Willie Hernangomez and Frank Ntilikina makes them a legit sixth or fifth seed in the weak eastern conference. There are other good teams that could cause trouble for New York, but they can still make noise come playoff time.
Irving would space the floor due to his three point shooting, which complements Porzingis’ play. Coach Jeff Hornacek can elevate Irving’s play with his system. The system is pick and roll plus getting easy points on fast break opportunities, which is what the 25-year-old wants to do.
On paper, it makes sense for the Knicks to have a gifted scorer at PG be their franchise player. Surely this looks like another quick fix in which the Knickerbockers don’t seem to do well at. But it is different in the sense that he’s a young player who has tremendous upside. Knicks fans need to keep on praying for the next few days as anything can happen on this trade becoming a reality. Irving wants to be the man of the team and New York would definitely give him that opportunity.
