Kyrie Irving is being overvalued by the Cleveland Cavaliers

Kyrie Irving reportedly asked Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert to trade him, but Gilbert doesn’t sound like he plans on dealing Irving anywhere. “At 25, the 6’3” four-time All-Star point guard averaged 25.2 points last season while playing alongside #LeBron James. There are also obvious question of fit when considering how Irving would get all the shots and control he wants next to players like Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns.

“We have a tremendous depth of talent in the front office … highly intelligent, capable people that are motivated and driven every day, very process-oriented and they know what it takes to be successful because we’ve done it before”. Keep that in mind when wondering why Irving would want to leave a contender.

To Billups, though, word of Irving’s unhappiness came as no shock.

Irving has seen what Russell Westbrook has done on his own and all the praise that came with his record breaking MVP season.

However, Irving is playing phenomenally. He clearly has something to prove after that disappointing performance. That limits what the Suns are able to do, but the team is still being named as a leader in the chase for Kyrie.

James was blindsided and devastated by the shocking news.

However, while the Cavs are likely to get a good return for Irving, finding the ideal return for him is particularly challenging because Irving carries a unique value for the Cavs. “/ The streets left me with a heavy heart”.

Before the Irving news, National Basketball Association circles were abuzz with speculation, if not outright expectation, that James would opt out of his Cavs contract next summer and defect to another team, possibly the Lakers. James has given no assurances about remaining in Cleveland. Here are the top five potential landing spots for him in a trade.

The Spurs, Timberwolves, and Heat all seem like teams that will make the playoffs next season. Irving cannot only be the undoubted star in the Big Apple with the inevitable departure of Carmelo Anthony being on the horizon, he can become a legend in basketball by bringing NY basketball back to excellence.

Gilbert did heap heavy praise on Altman, who is beginning his sixth year with the organization, though his comments could also be perceived as a slight of previous GMs. The saga has many parallels to the Kobe/Shaq soap opera of the early 2000s. Can the Cavs fetch two All-Stars for Irving? Denver has all of those assets to offer if they do engage in trade talks with the Cavs.

Nearly immediately, reports came out of LeBron James’ camp that he was disappointed in the move, going to Twitter to voice his support and thanks for Griffin and his contributions to a team that has gone to three straight NBA Finals and won the first title in franchise history.