Kyrie Irving trade rumors: 5 teams that should make an offer to Cavaliers
3. Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets‘ biggest area of need is the point guard position, and though a two-way player like Eric Bledsoe might be a more realistic trade target to get them back to the postseason, Kyrie Irving can’t be excluded from the list if he’s made available.
If that’s the case, a deal would almost have to be centered around Wilson Chandler, both for salary-matching purposes and for the simple fact that the Cavaliers need wings who can spread the floor while defending multiple positions if they want to close the gap on Golden State.
From there, it’d be a matter of figuring out which pieces among Jamal Murray, Emmanuel Mudiay and Gary Harris would need to be included.
Though giving up one of the Nuggets’ two “off limits” players would hurt, Denver would have to make this deal worth Cleveland’s while to give up their franchise point guard. Murray accomplishes that, injecting youth and immediate scoring punch into the starting lineup.
Wilson fills the need on the wing, while Juan Hernangomez gives the Cavs a young stretch-4 to look forward to down the road.
This is a nice balance of youth for the future and players who can make an impact now to get Cleveland back to the Finals, but it might represent a lowball offer from Denver. Another version might see Cleveland ask for two point guards with Emmanuel Mudiay:
While the Nuggets haven’t entirely given up on the No. 7 overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft yet, Mudiay falling behind Murray and veteran Jameer Nelson on the depth chart didn’t look good last season.
The only reason Cleveland might be interested in this potential draft bust is if they’re looking to rebuild and want a player whose set position is the 1, unlike Murray, who could fit at either the 1 or the 2.
More than likely though, they’d try to include Gary Harris, asking to substitute him in for either Murray or Mudiay (preferably Mudiay).
This would be an impressive haul for Cleveland, especially without a GM at the moment. Chandler shores up the wing defense and the team’s versatility, Harris does the same at the 2-spot while spreading the floor (42 percent three-point shooting last year) and even if Murray isn’t ready to be a starting point guard on a contender yet, LeBron handles most of the facilitation anyway.
This improves Cleveland’s scoring punch with the number of three-point weapons available and also provides two solid defenders…not to mention two young players on the rise in the event LeBron leaves next summer.
However, that’s too much for Denver to give up for one player, even one of Kyrie’s caliber. With the potential Murray showed as the starting point guard last season, the Nuggets may be content to avoid sacrificing Harris or Murray for an immediate upgrade at the 1.