There has been a lot of chatter about the future of Cleveland Cavaliers’ point guard Kyrie Irving.
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Irving has blossomed into one of the NBA’s better point guard, but it does not look like the two sides will be agreeing to an extension this offseason. The Cavaliers are hesitant to throw big money at him while Irving, who reportedly may want out of Cleveland, probably wants the same kind of contract the Washington Wizards gave John Wall last offseason.
It really shouldn’t come as a surprise that Irving and the Cavaliers likely won’t agree to an extension in the offseason.
Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders explains why.
"Irving’s camp likely points to his top pick status and Wall’s max deal as the starting point guard for his team, but the truth is Irving’s value might be closer to that of Curry or Lawson at this point.Because a max extension is being debated in and of itself is not a bad thing, is Irving truly a max player? Some would say he is not, some would say he is almost a max player and that’s clearly something the Cavaliers have to decide.The other part is that do you really give a max deal to someone who may or may not be committed to your team? There have been enough stories of Irving not being happy to make that a talking point in a new deal. If Irving is totally buying in, then back up the Brinks truck, but if he has his eyes elsewhere and this deal is simply a placeholder until he can get where he may ultimately want to be, the Cavs need to know that."
Irving averaged 20.8 points, 6.1 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.