Kyrie Irving is the center piece of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was drafted to be the saving grace of the franchise, but so far that has yet to happen. The Cavaliers have not been back to the playoffs since losing LeBron James and continue to have nothing to show for their numerous No. 1 draft picks. So what changes? While a max contract is dangling in front of Irving, could a trade be what Cleveland ends up doing instead?
Irving's future with the Cavaliers has been in question much of the last season. Many wonder if the point guard has any intentions of remaining with the team given their lack of success. Irving has the opportunity to sign a max contract with the Cavaliers or leave money on the table to head elsewhere. According to FOX Sports' Sam Amico, the Cavaliers fear that if they offer Irving a max contract, he will not sign it, so a trade is being sought out instead. The team has fielded several calls for deals and the Houston Rockets are just one of them.
According to Bill Ingram of Basketball Insiders, the Houston Rockets are one of the many teams that will be in play for Irving if he officially becomes available. Houston is aiming to make a big move for the third straight season. They signed James Harden. A year later the team acquired Dwight Howard. Now they are targeting one more marquee player to hopefully round out their own version of a Big 3. Irving is the target in question.
The Rockets could use an upgrade at the point guard position and just a scoring threat in general. Irving's stats took a dip this season, but there is no denying he is a playmaker. He averaged 20.8 points and 6.1 assists last season. Right now the Rockets have Patrick Beverley and Jeremy Lin who spent time at the position last year. Irving is a huge upgrade over Beverley and Lin is likely getting traded, possibly for the Cavaliers point guard.
Houston has assets that could persuade the Cavaliers into this deal. The Rockets are already shopping both Lin and center Omer Asik in a deal and they could easily put Chandler Parsons in that mix as well. They might not have the high draft pick Cleveland likely wants as well, but a deal involving those three players would certainly not be a bad option.
The Cavaliers will not make Irving available until they are 100 percent sure he has no intentions of signing some kind of max contract. However, once available, Cleveland can expect a whirlwind of calls for the point guard.
