When Kyrie Irving told the Cleveland Cavaliers that he wanted the team to trade him, he gave the team a list of teams he wanted them to trade him to. Those teams included the New York Knicks, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, and Minnesota Timberwolves. While the Portland Trail Blazers also want him to consider them, it looks like the Timberwolves might have the edge. CBS Sports reported today that the Timberwolves are exploring a trade for Kyrie and that the Cavaliers have "massive interest" in bringing Andrew Wiggins back to Cleveland.
Andrew Wiggins for Kyrie Irving
The Cleveland Cavaliers seem ready to trade away Kyrie Irving since keeping him could lead to discontent in the locker room, especially with LeBron James’ being labeled the reason Irving wants out of Cleveland. The Cavs already brought in Derrick Rose to replace Kyrie as the starting point guard in Cleveland. Not only did Rose sign his one-year deal, but he and LeBron have already announced they are heading to Las Vegas to start working together, which makes it clear that James is ready to move on from Irving.
Andrew Wiggins is a shooting guard that averaged 23.6 points-per-game and is one of the stars in Minnesota alongside center Karl-Anthony Towns. At the moment, Minnesota seems leery about trading away their shooting guard because receiving Kyrie Irving could make the entire trade a wash, with them getting one star in place of another.
It just comes down to deciding which player might have the brighter future for the franchise.
Wiggins and the Cavaliers
Interestingly, it was just one week ago that Andrew Wiggins was talking about a contract extension to prove his loyalty to the Minnesota Timberwolves. If the Timberwolves show interest in trading him for Kyrie Irving, that could damage their relationship, even if the trade never happens.
Wiggins has only missed one game in his career and has looked like a star for Minnesota.
Now, it would be very interesting to see the Cleveland Cavaliers trying to bring Andrew Wiggins back to Cleveland. In the 2014 NBA Draft, the Cavaliers are the team that made Wiggins the No. 1 overall pick out of Kansas. Wiggins then signed his rookie contract with the Cavaliers but less than one month later, Cleveland traded their number one pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a trade that brought them Kevin Love from the Timberwolves.
According to Jon Krawczynski, an NBA writer for the Associated Press, The Minnesota Timberwolves are considering the trade for Kyrie Irving. They just aren’t sure if they want to send Andrew Wiggins to the Cleveland Cavaliers, which is one thing that might be holding up any trade.