By Jordan Long
The Cleveland Cavaliers are still pondering if they want to trade Kyrie Irving. Speculation is that LeBron James may leave at the end of this upcoming season. He has a player option in his contract allowing him to opt-out at the end of the year. Irving on the other hand wants to leave Cleveland and his preferred destination is San Antonio where he would sign an extension.
Irving is one of the top young point guards in the NBA. He would help the Spurs with his scoring ability and set up plays to feed his teammates for easy buckets. Irving scored 25.2 points and added 5.8 assists per game last season. With Irving the Spurs might improve on their record of 61-21 by a few wins. They still wouldn’t close the gap on the Golden State Warriors.
Irving is a fit for San Antonio. He logs 35.1 minutes per game and can help this team win games. He can take the pressure off of Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Pau Gasol who won’t have to be the only defenders and scorers on the team. Irving will find them early and often for buckets. If the Spurs feel like he is the missing piece to win a championship, then make the transaction.
The downside is the Spurs don’t need a point guard. On the roster they have Tony Parker and Patty Mills as the main guards. Parker starts and Mills replaces him when he needs a rest. The Spurs have the point guard of the future in Dejounte Murray. There is not a place on the roster for Irving and his addition will reduce the minutes for Mills and Parker.
The Spurs are already a “superstar” team. Adding Irving may be a reasonable move on paper. In reality there aren’t enough basketballs to go around. Leonard, Parker, and Mills may complain about the number of touches they get. Irving might take away from the number of points they score. The Spurs are better off not making a deal for Irving. Hopefully San Antonio realizes that.
What do you make of Kyrie Irving’s desire to play for the San Antonio Spurs?
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