When the news broke Kyrie Irving had requested a trade from the Cavaliers, many wondered who the Cavs would get to replace the young, budding superstar point guard. Irving is an extraordinary offensive talent and there are few point guards in the league that are as good as he is at beating a defender one-on-one and scoring.
Cleveland is yet to hear any offers they really like regarding Irving, but they’ve already made a move towards replacing him by signing former MVP Derrick Rose to a 1-year, $2.1 million deal. Another point guard is likely on the way in an Irving deal, whether a starter or backup, but Rose gives them a veteran scorer that can at least mitigate the damage on offense that will come from losing Irving.
LeBron James has remained quiet about Irving departing to this point, but it’s been reported that he was blindsided by the news when it broke — although Irving has reportedly wondered if it was LeBron that leaked the news. In either case, things have soured between James and Irving and the King is ready to move on with his new point guard in Rose, as evidenced by his excited tweet on Monday night.
🌹 🌹 🌹🌹🌹 Let's Rock G!!
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 24, 2017
Back in 2010 when James chose to leave for Miami, there were rumors that a potential Big 3 could form in Chicago with he, Rose and Dwyane Wade before he chose to join Wade with the Heat along with Chris Bosh. Now, he gets a chance to play alongside Rose in Cleveland, although this is a significantly different version of Rose than was around in 2010.
Rose isn’t as nearly as good as Irving at this point in his career, but he comes at a cheap cost and, as mentioned previously, can still score in bunches. It’s clear that Rose is on board with the idea of being a secondary option to LeBron and is willing to take less money for the chance at winning in Cleveland. James is excited, at least outwardly, at Rose coming on board and, according to Cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon, is “eager” to see Irving out the door after all of this has gone down. We’ll find out this fall whether Rose still has enough left in the gas tank to help Cleveland to a fourth straight NBA Finals alongside James, or if Irving was right to jump ship before the summer of 2018 when James could possibly leave.
