Cavs Rumors: Source Thinks Miami Heat Will Land Kyrie Irving

When Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving made his trade request, it was reported that he wanted to be dealt to one of four teams, one of those being the Miami Heat. In the opinion of ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Irving will end up in South Beach when the seemingly inevitable deal is made.

Shelburne, along with other NBA journalists within the network, explained her reasoning this way:

“The team that gets Kyrie is going to have to be OK with giving up a lot of young assets for a player who could leave in two years. So the four teams on his list have an advantage in knowing he’d be likely to stay there beyond his current contract,” Shelburne said. “Minnesota can probably offer the most, but it’s hard to see the Wolves parting with Andrew Wiggins, given coach Tom Thibodeau’s valuation of defense. The Heat are dying for a young star, and Pat Riley and Andy Elisburg are both creative and bold enough to find a way to get this deal done. I think the Cavs will be worse after dealing Irving, because right now there’s no real leverage for Cleveland to push for multiple picks or young players.”

Exactly how creative the Heat end up being remains to be seen, with the Cavaliers not looking to simply settle for any package of players. In addition, they’re not especially concerned with accommodating Irving with regard to the teams he wants to play for, a list that also includes the Timberwolves, New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs. Should any other teams offer the Cavs a better deal, they’ll simply choose that option, considering the fact that Irving has no leverage to force such a trade and two years remaining on his contract, with a player option for the 2019-20 season.