Why trading Kyrie Irving to the Atlanta Hawks is the best move the Cleveland Cavaliers could make

The Cleveland Cavaliers could trade one headstrong point guard for another if they deal Kyrie Irving to the Atlanta Hawks.

Here’s one trade idea for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Trading Kyrie Irving to the Atlanta Hawks for a package centered on Dennis Schroder.

23-year-old Schroder, the 17th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, is a point guard that doesn’t get much national attention but make no mistake about it, he’s pretty darn good. With his confidence and scoring ability, he’s also the player who is probably most suited to replace Irving.

As a scorer, Schroder knows how to score from all three levels although his specialty lies in getting to the rim by changing his speeds during a herky-jerky dribble. His smooth glide, his touch, his improvisation – are reminiscent of Cleveland Cavaliers incumbent starter Kyrie Irving. He’s able to knock down shots beyond three-point range with his feet set, scoring on 39.1 percent of his catch-and-shoot three-point attempts and 63.8 percent of his catch-and-shoot attempts inside the arc last year. Those numbers drop to 28.7 and 40.4 on pull-up attempts, so he’ll clearly need to improve his off-the-dribble shooting.

Still, with his youth he still has time to develop that part of his game and improve his scoring ability. In any case, his ability to have an effective field goal percent of 53.3 percent when shooting off-screens and an effective field goal percent of 46.8 as a pick-and-roll ball-handler is promising.

Schroder, a confident young player whose belief in himself is also reminiscent of Irving, scored 17.9 points per game last season, his first season as a full-starter.

It’s also important to look at Schroder’s coaching. Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer was an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs for 17 seasons, where he served under Gregg Popovich, who could be the best head coach in NBA history. Popovich, who would seem to have an affinity for scoring point guards, has coached lead guards like Tony Parker, Cory Joseph and Patty Mills in recent years.

While those players aren’t all equally talented, they’ve all been taught to score, control the flow of the game and play defense. Schroder has shown he can score. Still, what about his ability to manage the game and play defense?

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As far as controlling the flow of the game, Schroder has a natural talent as a passer and is more willing to pass the ball ahead than Irving. For the third consecutive season, Schroder has contributed to at least one-third of his team’s assists while he’s been on the floor. Irving hasn’t contributed to a third of his team’s assists since his rookie season.

Irving, however, has kept his turnover rate rather low, especially considering his affinity for iso-ball. Irving’s turnover rate has dropped over every season, and he was responsible for a career-low 10.3 percent of his team’s turnovers while he was on the floor. Schroder has shown consistent improvement in this area. Last season he was responsible for a career-low 16.3 percent of his team’s turnovers.

Irving has never been responsible for more than 16.1 percent of his team’s turnovers. LeBron James, who was responsible for a career-high 16.1 percent of his team’s turnovers last season, is a player who could help Schroder greatly; James’ renowned basketball IQ and court vision make him the ideal tutor for an up-and-coming point guard.

On defense, Schroder has held opposing players to shooting 27.9 percent from the field in isolation and 43.1 percent from the field in the pick-and-roll.

Schroder wouldn’t be the only prize for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Hawks have two young wings in Taurean Prince and DeAndre Bembry that were solid scorers in college. Prince is the better three-point shooter but Bembry has a natural feel as a slasher and is more effective as a scorer despite the differences in their marksmanship beyond-the-arc. Defensively, both are capable of being solid defenders although Prince displays a higher motor on the defensive end.

Though neither prospect is perfect, they’re two wings who the Cavs could look to after James’ departure or retirement.

Lastly, the Atlanta Hawks have multiple (3) first-round draft picks next year.

Their own first-round pick is likely to be more valuable than the Houston Rockets’ and Minnesota Timberwolves’ first-round picks in the 2018 NBA Draft. However, that may work out in the Cavs’ favor. Cavs general manager Koby Altman could try to acquire both the Rockets and Wolves’ first-round picks because those teams will likely two of the top-5 teams in the Western Conference next season and two of the top-10 teams in the league.

Would a package of Schroder, Bembry (or Prince), two first-round picks (which could be used to facilitate another deal this season or on draft night) suffice for the Cavs? Especially if the can move the contract of Atlanta-native Iman Shumpert (a move that would require Hawks power forward Mike Muscala to be added to the transaction to make the money match)?

It should.

As for the Hawks, the arrival of Irving (and Shumpert because of his ties to the area) would bring droves of fans to the arena. He’d be the most talented and exciting player to be in a Hawks uniform since Joe Johnson but even more so. On-the-court, Irving’s alpha mentality, championship pedigree and scoring ability would make him the team’s leader and the face of the franchise. He’d be a player who they’d use to attract the top free agents in the league during the summers as the try to build a championship contender.

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Who says no?