5 trade destinations for Kyrie Irving, now that he wants to leave Cleveland
By John Buhler
New York Knicks
East, Atlantic
Why would anybody want to go to the New York Knicks? Well, Irving is from the Tri-State Area and he won’t have to run the Triangle offense for Phil Jackson any more. Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek is a solid offensive mind and would inherit the best ball handler and finisher at the rim in the game in a deal for Irving.
Would that mean giving up frustrated franchise cornerstone power forward Kristaps Porzingis? Potentially, as Irving is already a top-15 talent in this league while that’s what New York hopes Porzingis could be. Irving is a rare player that New York would actually consider trading Porzingis for. Not sure they’d do it, but the Knicks would hear the offer out.
New York is supposed to be the center of the basketball universe. Though he is from the New Jersey suburbs, Irving would be the basketball savior New York needs. Being from the area only feeds into the legend should he help transform New York into a winner.
Take Linsanity and multiply that by 1,000 and that’s what New York would feel about Irving coming to the Knicks. If New York doesn’t want to trade Porzingis, they have another option: trade Carmelo Anthony to the Cavaliers so that he could play with LeBron James.
Irving and Porzingis together could win NBA Championships together in New York. Anthony to the Cavaliers would make James happy in the short term and maybe keep them the favorite in the Eastern Conference over the Boston Celtics. The Knicks are dysfunctional, but they have the stars to make a trade with the Cavaliers for Irving.