When the New York Knicks was listed as one of the potential landing spots for Kyrie Irving should he leave the Brooklyn Nets this NBA offseason, it created a visceral response from the fan base. If you were only investing in Irving on the court, it would be a pretty easy decision to make.
Irving is a maestro with the ball in his hands. He can score from anywhere on the court and is one of the toughest players to defend with his elite ball-handling skills. We have seen him excel on the brightest of stages in the NBA Finals, so from a skills standpoint, he is a max player. Unfortunately, it isn’t that easy.
A lot more goes into being a max player as the best ability is availability. Irving just cannot be counted on to show up and play. Whether it is self-inflicted, like refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine or injuries, he has missed a lot of time during the last three seasons with the Nets.
So, it is understandable why a portion of the fan base would prefer not to go near him. However, one prominent figure in the organization is a big fan of his and that is head coach Tom Thibodeau.
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As Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report detailed in his latest NBA intel piece, Thibodeau thinks highly of Kyrie Irving but there are a lot of obstacles for the New York Knicks to overcome to land him.
“There is a path for Irving to decline his option and sign with New York as an unrestricted free agent. Part of the rumblings about Irving and the Knicks’ mutual interest is that head coach Tom Thibodeau is a fan of Irving. But New York would have to shed significant salary, sacrifice valuable draft capital in the process and still likely need to stretch a contract or two to free up the space to meet Irving’s near $40 million wages.”
Landing Irving would not be cheap. It would cost plenty of assets to open up the salary cap space to sign him outright. If a trade between the Brooklyn Nets and Knicks would have to be done, it would cost them even more as well.
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There is a gaping need for a point guard in New York, but it is fair to question if Kyrie Irving is the right fit. Based on cost and his track record without LeBron James, this isn’t an avenue that the New York Knicks should be pursuing as they still need to do some work to contend for a championship.
