Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Heating up
Ira Winderman mulls Kyrie Irving's trade request.
MIAMI — Why would you break up a good thing? To put together a better thing.
No, Pat Riley hasn’t copyrighted that one yet. Instead, he’s lived it.
Which is why there is more than smoke when it comes to the blaze of speculation regarding Kyrie Irving’s trade request and his list of preferred destinations.
So first start with the facts, the tangible, non-speculative facts.
Irving wants a fresh start not as some sort of height of hubris, but rather as an escape from such an approach.
It is why his preference of landing spots includes the Miami Heat, as well as the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves. The commonality there is front offices that command respect and coaching staffs that make good players better. With the Heat it is Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra. With the Spurs it is R.C. Buford and Gregg Popovich. With the Timberwolves, it is the culture change delivered by Tom
Thibodeau. That list has been confirmed by the Sun Sentinel, with it still somewhat unclear how the New York Knicks have also been linked to the disgruntled Cleveland Cavaliers guard.
For any potential suitor, the questions become whether Irving has become toxic — unappreciative of these past three trips to the NBA Finals and championship in 2016. That’s although the Cavs failed to gain any traction before LeBron James’ return in the 2014 offseason, following his free-agency departure from the Heat.
That’s where the emerging narrative has itself become toxic. You don’t work under Popovich or Riley or work-you-to-the-bone Thibodeau if you’re seeking special privileges. Consider what Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker have endured with the demands from Popovich. Or how Riley stripped James of so many of his Cavaliers special privileges upon LeBron’s 2010 arrival to South Florida.
No, this is more of a case of wanting to be treated as something closer to an equal, to find a way to continue to evolve. Popovich, Spoelstra, Thibodeau have shown an ability to bring out the best in players.
Which, from this precinct, winds this soap opera back to the Heat, a team that has dealt with its share of upheaval in recent years, from James’ departure to Chris Bosh’s illness to Dwyane Wade’s 2016 summer of discontent — and then finally found its footing during last season’s 30-11 finish.
Why rock that boat? Why bring back almost the entire core only to reset the approach?
Because this is Alonzo Mourning in 1995, Tim Hardaway in ‘96, Shaquille O’Neal in ‘04, even Goran Dragic in 2015. Because even when the going has been good, Riley has been seeking better.
Kyrie Irving is better. Better than anything the Heat have on their current roster, with all due respect to the ultimate team play Dragic has offered over his three seasons, accommodating the styles of Wade then Dion Waiters.
Yes, the Cavaliers struggled mightily when Irving has been in and James out. But that also is in a system catered entirely to James’ remarkable skill set. The Spurs and Heat have shown adaptability to all possibilities, San Antonio picking up where Kawhi Leonard where it left off with Tim Duncan, the Heat emerging from the Big Three to last season’s second-half superlatives. As for Thibodeau’s T-wolves, the game plan is an open slate with the arrival of Jimmy Butler.
In recent years for the Heat, there has been the tease of Kevin Durant and Gordon Hayward in free agency. Each of those gambits left the franchise at a loss. But this is Pat Riley, who kept banging his head against the Michael Jordan wall while coaching the New York Knicks, and then pounded away fruitlessly against those very Knicks while coaching the Heat. He is not afraid of the fight, even if battered by previous bouts.
With Dragic and Justise Winslow, the Heat would have at least an entry point into the Irving bidding.
As for the Cavaliers summarily disregarding Irving’s trade preferences, consider that in two years Irving can become a free agent in the 2019 offseason. Yes, two years can be an eternity in the NBA. But also consider that it began turning toxic with the Indiana Pacers two years before the similar expiration of Paul George’s contract, led to a forced trade with one year left on that deal for the return pittance of Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In other words, there are plenty of reasons for the Heat not to shy from this possibility. There is a reason why the Heat already are performing their due diligence — to be poised to pounce.
Unlike those freeagency meetings with Durant and Hayward, the Heat cannot control their narrative.
But they’re in the discussion again. And if means potentially being set up for disappointment again, so be it. There is nothing wrong with having options, including one that otherwise allows a 30-11 run to potentially be rejoined already in progress.