Windhorst: Towns and Butler pushing for Irving trade

[Monster]

FWIW I just watched the press conference from today introducing the new GM Altman and...basically them answering questions about Kyrie and Lebron. Lol

First a couple random things about the logistics of the press conference. They had swivel office chairs to sit in. This lends itself to guys swinging back and forth and just seems kinda weird. I bet there are plenty of professionals that would tell you that's not what you would want to do in a setting like that. The introduction was literally basically "Ok we are gonna get this started with Dan Gilbert." Gilbert jokes about that being the introduction. It was pretty pathetic. One of the mics that was being passed around had a large dent on it.

Ok so those things may be nitpicking but these guys went on to put up a front of being a top flight organization nothing is broken etc and there certainly were aspects you could point to that were not top flight stuff. Can you imagine if the Wolves hired Thibs and some dude just said "ok we are going to get this started with Glen."? That would be a joke.

Altman sounded like a smart dude and pretty likeable. Both guys were in serious damage control mode and maybe even did a pretty good job. Well except when Dan Gilbert said the Pacers could have done better in the Paul George trade and Altman started cracking up. Before introducing Altman Gilbert introduced 4 other executives. The idea was they had smart qualified young talent in the room. Gilbert kept asking if those guys were actually there and also kept looking at his cards to read off the good things about them. This seemed like a big part of their plan but it seemed like Gilbert wasn't sure if the guys were there or not. That was another weird aspect of this that want exactly well done.

I'll say this after watching all that it's absolutely possible they are seriously considering dealing Kyrie if they get a good offer and I think it's also possible they salvage this and Kyrie comes back to the Cavs this year. There was questions asked about Kyrie but James was King no doubt about it in the way they talked about him. That could piss off Kyrie even more so... idk I guess stay tuned...or don't.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

The thing about Kyrie.....he's only 25. That is still pretty damn young if teams looking at Irving are concerned about giving up any young assets for him. It's not like they are getting a 30+ year old star in return. He could be an all-star caliber lead guard for 6 or more years still.

[Monster]

The thing about Kyrie.....he's only 25. That is still pretty damn young if teams looking at Irving are concerned about giving up any young assets for him. It's not like they are getting a 30+ year old star in return. He could be an all-star caliber lead guard for 6 or more years still.

And his game isn't really based on his athletic ability. He is a ball handling wizard and he can shoot pretty well. His injury history is something worth considering but it's likely not bad enough to keep a team from making a deal. They are diffferent players but there are some parallels to your point with Love when we dealt him. Both are/were really high level players that are only 25. Love is still young at 28 although his back issues are a bit troubling. Let's not forget what a terrific offensive beast Love had been for a couple years and brought very high level rebounding. His skill set was more built to fit in and he struggled to some extent. Love's situation was more dire for the Wolves he only had 1 year on his deal and they were hoping to squeak into the playoffs. The Cavs if they can sort of right their ship with their leadership can sell Kyrie on making a run for one more year at a championship. That's a pretty VAST difference. I bet some team will come up with a big time offer and they pull the trigger. I'm not sure who that would be though. The Wolves got a pretty healthy return for Love and it can be argued that Kyrie had even more value.

[Monster]

A couple interesting tweets from Jon K and Wolfson.

https://twitter.com/apkrawczynski/status/890603451675066369

Just was on @SiriusXMNBA with @SamMitchellNBA. He said the ONLY player he'd move Wiggins for is Kyrie. Thought that was telling

https://twitter.com/dwolfsonkstp/status/890599317517418496

Told this a.m. Wiggins extension talks ongoing. So zero sense right now he's on the table. So sure, try and get Kyrie another way. #Twolves

[TheFuture]

I am hoping for a December trade of teague, dieng, patton/Aldrich, future firsts (one with Patton, 2 with aldrich) for kyrie and shumpert + any other filler.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I am hoping for a December trade of teague, dieng, patton/Aldrich, future firsts (one with Patton, 2 with aldrich) for kyrie and shumpert + any other filler.

I can't believe another team won't be able to do better than that. If I were Cleveland, it's Wiggins or bust.

Then again, look at what OKC did to Indiana, but hard to believe Cleveland is that dumb.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I am hoping for a December trade of teague, dieng, patton/Aldrich, future firsts (one with Patton, 2 with aldrich) for kyrie and shumpert + any other filler.

Unless Teague comes out averaging 23/8... and Kyrie becomes a huge distraction... I don't see that one happening.

[Monster]

Something that probably hasn't been hashed out because it hasn't needed to be (most of us have decided the Butler deal was a no-brained) but the pairing of Butler and Wiggins on the wing could be sooo good for both guys. Wiggins has played a lot of SF and many have thought he could be even more effective as a SG. Now he he can play as a SG both as a defender and as a offensive player. Last year Butler functioned as a SF most of the time with the Bulls. He played a lot of minutes with Wade who is a better defender than Wiggins but Wiggins has the size to play SF and offensively he is likely to create more space as a shooter than Wade did. If Wiggins can become something closer to an average defender next to a terrific defender in Butler these guys could be absolutely devastating together being able to actually help each other's game possibly on both sides (ok defensively Wiggins helping Butler is a stretch) of the ball. Wiggins or Butler being guarded by SGs could be a real problem for defenses. Wiggins can shoot over a lot of guys. Butler is just a straight up beast some SG won't be able to deal with him either. Defensively Butler is miles better than anyone Wiggins has played with on the wing except maybe Prince. Rush was average last year and was the best option unless you want to include Dunn. Watch some highlights of Wiggins last year and realize this dude is figuring stuff out yet and still scoring on NBA players at a high rate. I don't think Thibs is going to want to break that pairing up espcially when he also has Teague a guy that could be capable of just filling in doing the other stuff as the PG. Wiggins has legit potential to be a nightmare player in the playoffs as a guy that can get you a bucket and that's the appeal of Kyrie who you know can do it know. I think Wiggins has that in him but it won't look the same and sure maybe he won't be quite like Kyrie but damn he could be really good in that regard.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Something that probably hasn't been hashed out because it hasn't needed to be (most of us have decided the Butler deal was a no-brained) but the pairing of Butler and Wiggins on the wing could be sooo good for both guys. Wiggins has played a lot of SF and many have thought he could be even more effective as a SG. Now he he can play as a SG both as a defender and as a offensive player. Last year Butler functioned as a SF most of the time with the Bulls. He played a lot of minutes with Wade who is a better defender than Wiggins but Wiggins has the size to play SF and offensively he is likely to create more space as a shooter than Wade did. If Wiggins can become something closer to an average defender next to a terrific defender in Butler these guys could be absolutely devastating together being able to actually help each other's game possibly on both sides (ok defensively Wiggins helping Butler is a stretch) of the ball. Wiggins or Butler being guarded by SGs could be a real problem for defenses. Wiggins can shoot over a lot of guys. Butler is just a straight up beast some SG won't be able to deal with him either. Defensively Butler is miles better than anyone Wiggins has played with on the wing except maybe Prince. Rush was average last year and was the best option unless you want to include Dunn. Watch some highlights of Wiggins last year and realize this dude is figuring stuff out yet and still scoring on NBA players at a high rate. I don't think Thibs is going to want to break that pairing up espcially when he also has Teague a guy that could be capable of just filling in doing the other stuff as the PG. Wiggins has legit potential to be a nightmare player in the playoffs as a guy that can get you a bucket and that's the appeal of Kyrie who you know can do it know. I think Wiggins has that in him but it won't look the same and sure maybe he won't be quite like Kyrie but damn he could be really good in that regard.

In a league that really really values interchangeable/switchable wing players right now... your post makes sense.

Other teams are searching for 3-and-D wings. The Wolves potentially (hypothetically) might have two Everything-and-D wings.

That's a big assumption that Butler and Thibs can reach Wiggins, because he has a long way to go defensively.

[TheFuture]

I am hoping for a December trade of teague, dieng, patton/Aldrich, future firsts (one with Patton, 2 with aldrich) for kyrie and shumpert + any other filler.

I can't believe another team won't be able to do better than that. If I were Cleveland, it's Wiggins or bust.

Then again, look at what OKC did to Indiana, but hard to believe Cleveland is that dumb.

Cleveland is also in a peculiar position with LeBron and their cap. They need multiple pieces for now and pieces for the future. They also will want him out west. Dieng gives them a third big who can score and rebound, league is a proven pg to combo with rose. Patton and a 1st is for the future. I think it makes sense when you look at the whole picture and the boogie, butler, pg trades.

The one team that should make an offer right now is Denver. Murray, Chandler/Beasley, Faried, and maybe even Barton for Irving and Filler.

Irving/Harris/Millsap/Jokic is a really good core 4.

The suns as well with Bledsoe, Warren, Bender, Chandler and 1 or 2 Miami picks for Irving and filler.

Irving, Booker,Jackson,Chriss is a damn potential core as well.