i505 wrote:http://nba.nbcsports.com/2017/08/02/report-kyrie-irving-not-ready-to-commit-to-any-team-that-trades-for-him/
I still say 95% he bolts. Pass.
There's no way to determine that right now; absolute zero. Let's say we trade for Kyrie, and it's our 2018 Top 5 protected pick, Bledsoe, and Chriss, for argument sake (if there is news to the otherwise, sorry, I don't have time to keep up with every development).
Jackson comes out next year and has a great rookie season, as does Reed; Warren, Booker, Bender, and Ulis progress, and we make it to the 7th/8th seed, compete hard, then sign a good, young FA (pick one)...or heck, we don't need to because everyone surprises...maybe Bender and Sauce combine to form a stud duo at the 5, and Warren, with his new found bulk/height (he's what, almost 6'10", 245??), has a nice 16/7 year at PF, and Jackson just goes nuts at SF, Booker puts up a 22/5/4 year, and Kyrie has one of his best years. Why wouldn't he consider staying? Boom, we're on our way to our rebuild now, and attracting talent.
On the other hand, everything remains about status quo. We have another poor year and Irving does ok. Irving has a year left on his deal. We draft a PG in late the Lottery or 20s, and trade Irving to an up-and-coming contender for a lotto pick and a salary, no harm/ no foul. We still have Warren, Booker, Bender, Jackson, Ulis, Sauce, Reed, Peters, Miami's pick, and whoever we can trade Kyrie for, a pick or player. All is not lost.
I'd rather try, than go through another year, with our brightest hope for the future being our next year's draft pick; it certainly doesn't slow us down much, if any.