The Minnesota Timberwolves have had a fantastic off-season to this point, but should they continue acquiring big names by executing a trade for Kyrie Irving?
The Timberwolves have acquired Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson and Jamal Crawford already this summer. Now, the next potential move is reportedly trying to acquire Kyrie Irving (!) from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
As you surely know by now, Irving has requested a trade from Cleveland and his preferred destinations are the Timberwolves, New York Knicks, Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs. Even though Kyrie Irving wants to join Minnesota, there are reasons why the Wolves should not go after the All-Star point guard. Our own Ali Siddiqui laid out his reasons why Andrew Wiggins shouldn’t be included in an Irving deal, but let’s look at this from a different angle.
Reports say that Kyrie wants to be the man for his own team. For the Wolves, that might not be a good idea. This team is structured for a free-flowing offense where anybody on any given night might be the go-to guy. The Wolves have five players who can go for 20-plus and that can be used to their advantage.
If Irvingwere to join, it would give them a champion, another scorer, and a clutch performer all rolled into one but the knock on Kyrie has always been that he is a player who goes get his own buckets and doesn’t get his teammates involved. He has gone games without recording a single assist while playing alongside Lebron James.
Imagine how bad it would look if Kyrie was getting zero assists on this Minnesota team full of scorers. It would also look bad because if this becomes his team, he would be blamed when his team lose. Teammates would look at him as a selfish player who just wants to go get his and doesn’t care about his team.
Irving joining the Wolves could take him to another level as a player because there have been plenty of point guards that have played under Tom Thibodeau and had outstanding seasons, including but not limited to Derrick Rose, Nate Robinson, D.J. Augustine. Jeff Teague could have one of those type of seasons where he gets back to his All-Star level, or the Wolves could make a trade for Irving. But Kyrie is not the best defender and that all comes with effort. Sure, Thibodeau could help in that regard, but that remains to be seen.
Of course, the Wolves would also have to give up a lot for Kyrie as the Cavs do not want to give him up for something not equal or better than Kyrie’s value — and understandably so. This would almost surely require giving up both Andrew Wiggins and Jeff Teague, and it sure seems that Teague and Wiggins would be a better fit for what the Wolves are trying to develop.
According to reports, Karl Anthony Towns and Jimmy Butler have expressed their interest in having Irving on their team, even if it means giving up Wiggins. Of course, that’s been disputed by Twin Cities Associated Press reporter Jon Krawczynski.
Next: Tom Thibodeau's Dual Role Is Going Out Of Style
All in all, Irving is one of the best talents in the NBA, but it might be for the best if Thibs steers away from trading for Irving.