The Phoenix Suns are one of the teams that could put together a really great package for Kyrie Irving. If the Suns wanted to get the talented guard, they could conceivably include an impact veteran, a young player with a ton of upside, and a draft pick in a deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
But the fact that this hasn’t happened, even just in principle, is kind of telling. Moving Eric Bledsoe to make way for Irving makes sense in any deal, and including a draft pick isn’t too difficult as the Suns have a few extras floating around.
The issue reportedly lies in moving a young player, as there have been rumblings that neither Josh Jackson nor Devin Booker would get moved in a trade for Irving. This seems to be the hold up, and according to Joe Vardon of cleveland.com, a deal would have been done by now if one of those young standouts were involved.
“If that deal (Bledsoe, Miami first rounder and Jackson) for Irving was there, it’d be done by now,” a league source with knowledge of the Cavs’ thinking told cleveland.com.
Vardon did point out that Jackson cannot be dealt until 30 days after he signed his rookie deal — which he did on July 3 — although it’s hard to see the Suns including Jackson in a deal even after that deadline passes. Anything can happen between now and then, and this report kind of implies that the Cavs want to work towards getting Bledsoe, Jackson, and a pick back for Irving, but Cleveland may have to lower its asking price if it wants to get a deal done with Phoenix.
(Via cleveland.com)
