Kyrie Irving – Should the New Orleans Pelicans pursue a trade?

Everyone who is an NBA fan, and even those who are not, will have heard that Kyrie Irving wants to be traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers. This will have gained the attention of every GM in the league, thinking of possible trade packages to make a deal happen.

Irving, who is still only 25, has three years left on a good contract. He has a lot of accolades from Rookie of the Year, to being a four-time all-star and owns a championship ring from 2016 after knocking down the clutch three in game 7 against the Warriors.

Irving is a phenomenal scorer and is one of my favorite players to watch and, in my opinion, the best isolation player in the league. His handles are some of the best to ever grace the game. His reasoning for wanting a trade is he wants to be the focal point of the team, not play second fiddle to Lebron James.

What could the Pelicans offer for Irving?

First, lets rule what they could not offer. Jrue Holiday, Rajon Rondo and Frank Jackson are all out of the equation. Jackson cannot be traded until August 8, Rondo until December 15 and Holiday until January 15 due to signing recent deals.

If they were available, I would have looked at centering a trade around Holiday and some picks, but with that off the table there’s little else to offer.

Anthony Davis is out of the question, and I doubt the Cavs would be interested in Solomon Hill, E’Twaun Moore, Alexis Ajinca, Quincy Pondexter or Omer Asik, so that leaves us with only one person: DeMarcus Cousins.

Both Irving and Cousins are on very similar deals, but that would leave the Pelicans with a lot of guards, and Rondo didn’t enjoy sitting on the bench for the Mavericks, so I doubt he would be happy doing that in New Orleans.

Would Irving fit?

As I said earlier, Irving is one of my favorite players in the league, and I would love him to be a Pelican, but as it stands, I don’t feel it is the right fit. While he can get you out of a hole when the offense is struggling, his overall game just would not work.

Everything this year has been geared to building around Davis and Cousins, including the hiring of Chris Finch, who helped hugely in the development of Nikola Jokic. A pass-first point guard is exactly what the Pelicans need, and they have that in Rondo. Irving is the exact opposite. He has only averaged over six assists once in his six years in the league, while Rondo has done so 10 times out of 12 professional seasons.

The final reason why I don’t think Irving would fit in New Orleans is the fact he’d want to be the ‘main man’ and the face of the franchise. In New Orleans he would still be the number two player to Davis, who is undoubtedly the franchise player and will be for as long as he remains a Pelican.

Ultimately, while he is one of my favorite players in the league, I cannot see the positives in trading for Irving, other than helping facilitate the trade to dump some bad contracts.