Unpacking the Kyrie Irving rumor for the Timberwolves

In light of the rumor that Kyrie Irving has requested a trade out of Cleveland and listed the Timberwolves as a desired destination, let’s take a look at the feasibility of a) a move being made, and b) a fit with the current roster.

Another week, another dramatic NBA rumor surrounding a superstar.

Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving has reportedly requested to be traded. For a team with no general manager and LeBron James only under contract for one more season, well, this is nothing short of a disaster.

Obviously, the Cavs will have a big decision to make. They could keep Irving and make another run at the Finals in 2017-18 and figure out the rest later; the only real concern here is any potential chemistry issues if the cited reason for Irving’s desired move (wanting to get out of The King’s shadow) is indeed true — or even if it’s only perceived that way by his teammates and coaches.

Trading him towards the end of the summer is an option as well, similar to the Kevin Love trade of three years ago. Trades are a bit trickier to complete right now, of course, as newly-signed free agents can’t be moved until December 15th. But it wouldn’t be impossible.

Perhaps the most likely option is to wait and see how things play out. If the first few weeks of the season are toxic, Irving could be moved after the December 15th deadline, or perhaps right at the February trade deadline.

And while Irving doesn’t have a no-trade clause, naming a handful of teams that he’d like to be moved to matters. Those teams will have more leverage in trade talks as teams not  on the list won’t want to give up as much as Irving could simply walk in free agency in two years. Put simply: the four teams listed below are the teams that the Cavaliers could hope to extract the most value from in any Kyrie Irving trade.

That’s right, the Timberwolves were one of four “preferred landing spots” listed by Irving. A new day, indeed.

There are real issues with most of the above-listed teams acquiring Irving, of course. But first, let’s focus on the roster fits.

The Knicks and Heat would surely be playoff teams in the weak Eastern Conference by adding Irving to Kristaps Porzingis in New York and Hassan Whiteside in Miami. But neither team would be true contenders.

Irving would be an intriguing fit in San Antonio with LaMarcus Aldridge, but the veteran power forward would almost certainly need to be part of any more for Irving. And the Kyrie-Kawhi Leonard fit probably wouldn’t be the most synergistic.

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The roster fit in Minnesota, however, would be fantastic. Adding Irving’s 38.3 percent career three-point shooting to the fold is ideal, and Irving and Karl-Anthony Towns would run one of the best pick-and-rolls in recent memory. Jimmy Butler would be cutting off the wing and scoring in the post, and the offense would be virtually unstoppable.

Now, the hurdle to acquiring Irving is simply too high to clear — for now, at least.

The Timberwolves aren’t going to trade Towns or Butler, that much is clear. Free agent signings Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, and Jamal Crawford can’t be traded until December 15th. The likes of Ricky Rubio and Shabazz Muhammad aren’t on the roster anymore to dangle as trade bait.

That leaves some combination of Tyus Jones, Nemanja Bjelica, and Cole Aldrich as trade-able assets. It’s hard to come up with a package that would supply the Cavaliers with much value in return for one of the league’s best point guards.

The only way that an Irving trade could potentially take place would be as follows:

1. A third team steps forward and is somehow able to assist in providing the Cavs with enough assets to make a trade happen. This seems exceedingly unlikely as the Wolves still don’t have much to send out to either the Cavs or the third team, although draft picks would be vital in this scenario.
2. The Wolves and Cavs wait until December 15th and include Jeff Teague in a trade. Salary-wise, Teague for Irving would work straight-up, although the Cavs would require additional assets as well. Perhaps the Wolves would take on Iman Shumpert‘s contract and Cleveland would take back Cole Aldrich, whose partially-guaranteed salary in 2018-19 could be attractive as the Cavs will want cap space. Minnesota would also probably need to include at least one draft pick.
3. Andrew Wiggins is the centerpiece of the potential deal.

The second listed option is probably the most realistic. The teams could haggle over this for months, and from the Wolves perspective, it makes all the sense in the world to see how the situation plays out in Cleveland. Why surrender Wiggins now when there’s a high probability that things will deteriorate even more for the Cavs and Irving could be had for Teague and draft picks and possibly some lower-tier assets from a third team?

Of course, things could be awkward in Minnesota if Teague feels as though the writing is on the wall, but that would be a pretty advanced problem to have. The odds are still far greater that Irving is either moved to another team or not traded at all.

At the end of the day, Wolves fans shouldn’t get their hopes up. But it also isn’t impossible to see how a move could be made sometime between December 15 and the All-Star break. Let’s keep an eye on this one.