How the Cleveland Cavaliers could bring Kristaps Porzingis to The Land

NEW YORK CITY - DECEMBER 7: Kristaps Porzingis
NEW YORK CITY - DECEMBER 7: Kristaps Porzingis /
facebooktwitterreddit

Kristaps Porzingis is one of the Cleveland Cavaliers primary trade targets. What would it take to bring him to The Land?

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, New York Knicks power forward Kristaps Porzingis has emerged as “a primary target” for the Cleveland Cavaliers as they seek to trade All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, amidst reports that he wants out of The Land.

Furthermore, according to Wojnarowski, the only way that the Cavs can acquire Porzingis would be to take on the contract of Joakim Noah.

"Porzingis has emerged as a primary Cleveland target but that’s a conversation that can occur only with Cleveland’s willingness to unburden the Knicks of the three years and $55 million left on Joakim Noah’s contract."

As Wojnarowski reported, Noah has three years and $55 million left on the four-year, $72.5 million contract he signed last summer. A steep price for a center who has only played in 75 games in the past two seasons and has generally struggled with both his health and his production over the past three seasons. A center whose offense, aside from his passing ability, is lackluster and whose defense is his calling card – much like Cleveland’s starting center Tristan Thompson.

While combining the salaries of Noah and Porzingis would allow them to legally trade for Irving, is it fair value from a talent standpoint?

Mind you, Porzingis is certainly a talent to behold and has shown every bit of promise you’d expect from a perennial All-Star.

He has a feel for the game, athleticism and a versatile skillset that earned him the categorization of one of the game’s “unicorns”. He can knock down shots from behind the arc, has a bevy of face-up moves and has shown himself capable of both beautiful footwork and devastating defense.

After earning All-Rookie honors in the 2015-2016 season, with averages of 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game, Porzingis averaged 18.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in his sophomore season. All the while, he raised his field goal percentage from 42.1 percent in his rookie season to a respectable 45.0 percent last year and his three-point percentage from a respectable 33.0 percent in his rookie year to a rock-solid 35.7 percent in the 2016-2017 season.

With three more seasons on his contract before he becomes a restricted free agent, Porzingis is a young talent that can be a franchise cornerstone as well as the future face of the franchise. If the Knicks are willing to part with a first-round pick in addition to Porzingis and Noah, this trade may be pretty suitable for both sides.

Irving, who is from the New York area, would be a big-time box office draw in the Big Apple and a guard-driven league. In addition, while showing the relatively unknown rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina the ropes, he’d be teamed up with a 10-time All-Star in Carmelo Anthony and an emerging talent in Tim Hardaway Jr. He’d possibly be painted as the future and the face of the franchise but more importantly, he could make the team true championship contenders.

How? With his deadly scoring ability, ball-handling and clutch gene.

Irving, a four-time All-Star, averaged a career-high 25.2 points per game last season while shooting 47.3 percent from the field, 40.1 percent from three-point range and 90.5 percent from the free-throw line. A six-year veteran, Irving has averaged 21.6 points and 5.5 assists per game while shooting 45.7 percent from the field, 38.3 percent from three-point range and 87.3 percent from the free-throw line.

At the conclusion of this trade, the New York Knicks would field a starting lineup featuring Irving, Hardaway Jr. and Carmelo Anthony on the perimeter, more than enough firepower to stick with the best teams. The Cleveland Cavaliers would field a starting lineup featuring LeBron James, Kevin Love and Porzingis, a particularly unicorn-y frontcourt that would likely be able to match up with any lineup other teams put on the floor, especially as Love continues to work on his athleticism and physique.

Should the Cavs make the trade?

I would.

Related Story: Trading Kyrie Irving to the Atlanta Hawks is best