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    Kevin PeltonESPN Staff Writer

On Friday, ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported the stunning news that Kyrie Irving has asked the Cavaliers for a trade because he wants to be a larger focal point and no longer wants to play alongside LeBron James.

The timing of Irving's request will limit Cleveland's trade options in terms of teams that could offer a suitable replacement for Irving at point guard along with other picks or players to even things up in terms of value. However, Irving's value on the trade market might exceed his value on the court, depending how you rate his performance. So could the Cavaliers satisfy Irving's request and also improve their chances of winning a championship?

The case for trading him: Irving's poor defense, RPM

For all of Irving's accomplishments -- All-Star MVP, FIBA World Cup MVP, Olympic gold medalist, hitting the go-ahead shot in Game 7 of the NBA Finals when Cleveland won the 2016 championship -- he ranked just 12th among point guards in ESPN's real plus-minus (RPM) last season.

While RPM's variability makes it a blunt tool for rating players over a single season, Irving's relatively low value in the metric is nothing new. In 2015-16, coming back from a fractured patella, he ranked 28th among point guards. And even in 2014-15, when Irving was chosen All-NBA third team -- indicating voters ranked him among the league's six best guards -- he ranked ninth at point guard.

 

 

The common denominator is Irving's poor defense. While RPM has generally rated Irving as an elite offensive player -- he ranked 14th in the league in offense-only RPM last season -- he's typically rated as a below-average defender.

Irving's RPM also suffers from how much the Cavaliers have struggled when he plays without James. Last season, Cleveland was outscored by an incredible 8.0 points per 100 possessions in the 568 minutes Irving played and James sat, according to NBA.com/Stats. In 2015-16, the Cavaliers were slightly better than opponents when Irving was on the court without James (plus-1.1 points per 100 possessions) and in 2014-15 they were slightly outscored (minus-1.3 net rating).

In games James has missed and Irving has played, Cleveland has gone 3-13 over that span, making it difficult for the Cavaliers to rest James without paying a price in the standings.

The case against trading him: Playoff Kyrie, future development

Indeed, Cleveland missed out on the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference last season in part because of the team's tendency to lose anytime James sat out. Of course, that was of little consequence as the Cavaliers romped through the East, going 12-1 en route to the NBA Finals. Irving was a big factor in that, as he was in Cleveland's victory over the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 Finals.

Historically, Irving has shown a tendency to play his best when the stakes are highest, most notably in that series against Golden State. Even before his Game 7 heroics, Irving had 41 points on 17-of-24 shooting to help the Cavaliers win an elimination Game 5 on the road.

Because his defensive issues are more about effort than a lack of physical talent, Irving has the ability to find a higher gear defensively in the playoffs. His improved effort was a key factor in the Cavs shutting Golden State down during their 2016 comeback from a 3-1 deficit.

It's also worth noting that though Irving has been in the league for six seasons, he just turned 25 in March. He's barely two years older than Sacramento Kingsrookie Frank Mason. So Irving might still have development in front of him. The 50 most similar players at the same age by my SCHOENE projection system improved their per-minute winning percentage by 4.0 percent the following season.

Almost inevitably, whomever the Cavaliers would get in return for Irving would be an older player. (If they were younger and similar in value to Irving, the other team would have no incentive to make that trade.) So Cleveland's long-term future is likely to take a hit in an Irving deal.

Possible trade options

The teams on the list of desired destinations Irving gave the Cavaliers, according to ESPN's Chris Haynes -- Miami, Minnesota, New York and San Antonio -- mostly don't make sense as trade partners for Cleveland.

Other than Kristaps Porzingis, the Knicks don't have anyone on the roster with trade value remotely comparable to Irving's. (Sorry, Carmelo Anthony doesn't count.) Same with the Spurs and Kawhi Leonard. A deal with the Timberwolves centered on Andrew Wiggins could be more appealing but would require James to serve as the Cavaliers' full-time point guard -- and produce an awkward pairing of Irving and newly signed Jeff Teague in the Minnesota backcourt.

The Heat could build an offer around point guard Goran Dragic, who is a capable enough 3-point shooter (40.5 percent last season, 36.3 percent career) to fill Irving's role of playing off the ball alongside James. Dragic has two seasons left on his contract at less money per year than Irving. But he's not nearly as dynamic a playmaker and is already 31.

A couple of teams not on Irving's list could make more competitive deals. The Boston Celtics could offer point guard Isaiah Thomas, who was chosen for the All-NBA second team last season (Irving missed out). Thomas is surely the closest offensive proxy for Irving's skills the Cavaliers could get in return. However, the Celtics might be willing to offer him because Thomas is an impending free agent and his defensive limitations (in his case, being 5-foot-9) are more difficult to overcome.

If Cleveland views this season as potentially its last with James, dealing for a player in the last year of his contract might make sense. Otherwise, the Cavaliers would be forced to choose between letting Thomas walk in a year or paying him a max deal starting at a projected $30.6 million that would take Thomas well into his 30s. Matching salary would also surely require Boston to gut its roster, making such a deal probably unpalatable.

The best option, then, might be a Phoenix Suns package centered on point guard Eric Bledsoe. While his effort tends to wax and wane during the regular season, Bledsoe is the kind of physical defender Irving is not, and he has become a credible enough 3-point threat to play off the ball. (Bledsoe made a career-high 104 3s last season, albeit at a below-average 33.5 percent clip.)

There are other reasons to believe a Bledsoe deal could work. He's a client of Klutch Sports, the agency founded by James' business partner Rich Paul. Phoenix also has ample cap space to take a contract like Channing Frye or Iman Shumpert off Cleveland's books, reducing the Cavaliers' tax bill. A deal of Irving and Shumpert for Bledsoe and TJ Warren would save Cleveland nearly $60 million in payroll and taxes this season.

While Bledsoe would be a defensive upgrade against Stephen Curry in a possible Finals rematch, it's still hard to say the Cavaliers would have a better chance of beating Golden State with Bledsoe in place of Irving. Cleveland would lose too much of the shooting and shot creation that broke the Warriors' defense late in the 2016 Finals. Unless the Cavaliers can get another star point guard who is unexpectedly available in a trade, an Irving deal might help them in the regular season but not in the playoffs.