Examining the aftermath of nixed Kyrie Irving, Paul George deal
By Dalton Sell
In 2017, a three-team trade nearly altered the NBA landscape entirely, but ultimately fell apart. Almost three years later, who are the winners and losers?
Coming off of their first NBA Championship in the Kevin Durant era, the Golden State Warriors sent the Cleveland Cavaliers home packing in 5 games. Having known that they needed to make some upgrades to compete with this rejuvenated Golden State team, Cleveland explored several options.
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Jason Lloyd of The Athletic (subscription required) reported that the team was in deep trades talks with the Phoenix Suns and Indiana Pacers, in a blockbuster deal centered around Kyrie Irving, Paul George, and Phoenix’s No. 4 draft pick that summer.
In the proposed scenario, the Cavaliers would have received Eric Bledsoe and Paul George, Kyrie Irving would have gotten shipped to the Suns along with Channing Frye, while the Pacers would have gotten Jared Dudley, Iman Shumpert, and Phoenix’s fourth overall draft pick.
There could have been many stars shipped around the league had this deal gone down, but ultimately, it never came to be. Lloyd added that the exits of Cleveland’s general manager David Griffin and executive Trent Redden amid negations played a significant factor in this.
ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan also reported that “the Suns resisted, unwilling to part with their No. 4 pick, which they planned to use to draft Josh Jackson.”
Ultimately, several significant factors led to the demise of this trade, but what could have happened had it gone down? Would the Cavaliers have been able to defeat the Warriors in an NBA Finals rematch? Would the Suns backcourt be one of the league’s best? Would the Pacers have drafted Josh Jackson? While the truth will forever remain a mystery, here are the winners and losers today from that deal getting nixed.