NBA Trade Rumors: Cleveland Cavaliers May Have Their Sights Set on Acquiring Kristaps Porzingis

Porzingis could be acquired by Cavaliers as part of deal involving guard Kyrie Irving

By John Paul Sunico, Christian Post Contributor Thursday, August 17, 2017

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in a truly weird spot, as they are currently considered as one of the favorites to make the NBA Finals, but they are also at risk of losing two of their best players.

Guard Kyrie Irving has reportedly requested to be traded while forward LeBron James will be an unrestricted free agent next year. It is possible that the Cavaliers could go from making four consecutive trips to the NBA Finals to not even making the postseason, which may explain why they may be looking to the future and dreaming of the possibility of adding New York Knicks big man Kristaps Porzingis.

According to a recent report from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, "Porzingis has emerged as a primary Cleveland target."

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Presumably, since Irving reportedly wants out of town anyway, the Cavaliers may be open to just shipping him to the Knicks in exchange for Porzingis. It is not going to be that simple however.

Wojnarowski even noted in the aforementioned report that the Cavaliers may have to take on the onerous contract of center Joakim Noah to make progress on a deal involving Porzingis, which will not be easy for them to do.

The Cavaliers already have plenty of money committed to their roster, so they would have to flip other useful players and Irving to the Knicks to get back Porzingis and Noah, and at that point, they may have weakened their roster to the point where they may struggle to even make it back to the NBA Finals, let alone win the championship.

Failure to make the NBA Finals next year could also serve to push James out of town even more.

It is an incredibly tough spot to be in as acquiring Porzingis may be better for the Cavaliers' long-term outlook but it could hamstring their title chances for the upcoming season.

Whether or not the Cavaliers end up pushing hard for Porzingis could depend on what they have decided to do.

If they decide that building for the future should be their main objective, then doing all they can to acquire Porzingis may be their next course of action, but if winning the championship next year remains the primary goal, then they may have to deal Irving for different players.

More news about the latest NBA trade rumors should be made available soon.