The Phoenix Suns Dodged a Bullet in the Kyrie Irving Deal

A Phoenix Suns backcourt of Booker and Irving would have been fun on some nights, however it would have mostly been frustrating as it amounts to nothing but poor defense.

The Kyrie Irving summer saga has finally come to an end, so what does this mean for the Phoenix Suns? NBA champion and four time All-Star Kyrie Irving had been a part of numerous trade rumors this summer due to his mixed feelings on playing in Cleveland, such as being second fiddle to LeBron James.

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It came to an end Tuesday when he was shipped to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and the unprotected first round pick from the Brooklyn Nets.

In all likelihood, this does minimal impact in terms of how the East shakes up this coming season. Cleveland will likely still beat Boston when or if the time comes, and the Cavs will still likely lose to the Golden State Warriors, assuming they get to the NBA Finals.

Now what does this mean for the Phoenix Suns? All summer the Suns fan base has debated if trading for Irving would be a smart idea. Both pros and cons were laid out

In terms of personal feelings, the Suns dodged a bullet here.

Yes, Irving is better than any player they have on the team. It is true that he and Devin Booker would make for one entertaining offensive backcourt. Indeed, he would put fans in the seats.

With that said, the Suns are only marginally better with him.

The Suns won 24 games last season and are projected to do not much better in 2017-18. So how much would Irving have added in terms of team success?

The Cavs success – or lack thereof – without LeBron James has been well documented. But without Kyrie Irving, SportsLine already projects the Cavs win-loss record to remain the same as it would have with him. More importantly, their championship odds dipped by only one percent,10 to 9.1 according to CBS Sports.

Aside from that, the most recent example of his not being able to carry a team was in the 2017 NBA Finals when it seemed like LeBron could not rest for even two minutes. We have seen an Irving-led team before and during LeBron’s reign. It is not pretty.

In fairness to Irving, before LeBron came back to Ohio from Florida, Kyrie had dealt with injuries, as well as with less talent on the court. He too was not experienced.

But now he is already 25-years-old – which leads to my next point.

How much does Irving improve from here? He has been the same player for quite some time now, a relentless scorer with amazing handles. Again, that player is entertaining to watch, but he is not leading a team to the dance. Irving is not a good defender, not too much of a willing facilitator, and can be a black hole in terms of ball movement.

A Booker and Irving backcourt would give up more points than it would produce. Some will point to what Portland is doing with their backcourt as an argument argument for why the Suns should have pulled the trigger on a trade, but the difference is they have a great outlier of a coach in Terry Stotts that makes it work. Does anyone have confidence that Earl Watson can make that backcourt work?

Then we get to the part about assets. Giving up Eric Bledsoe, Josh Jackson, a combination of either Marquese Chriss or Dragan Bender, and/or the Miami pick was discussed. Now, not giving up assets for a proven player is one thing. But giving up assets for a proven player just to have him walk in a couple years is entirely another.

What was the likelihood of Irving staying in Phoenix? We do not know. Phoenix is not a big market, it is in a tougher conference, and the recent franchise history has left a lot to be desired. Kyrie has two years and a player option left in his deal. He would have likely opted out and who knows from there. Why trade your chips in for little short-term, and no long-term, gain? If he were to leave, then Phoenix would potentially be back at square one only two to three more years into Booker’s prime. No fan wants to see a decade plus long rebuild.

The Phoenix Suns dodged a bullet with this one. As a fan, I would rather see this current rebuild continue and go from there. If they get somewhere with it I will be happy with the process and if not, it happens.

However, it is better than to get rid of assets only to get in return a poor man’s version of the Portland Trailblazers, a 37 wins team at best with a bottom five defense.

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Irving is a fine player and I wish him luck in Boston. With that said, for some Suns fans it is time to breathe easy.