Report: Kyrie Irving wants trade to Knicks ‘very badly’

Kyrie Irving is hoping the Cleveland Cavaliers find a way to trade him before the start of the 2017-2018 season, and the star point guard reportedly has one team in mind that he wants to play for more than any other.

ESPN’s Pablo Torre said Thursday that a source told him Irving “very badly” wants to be traded to the New York Knicks.

“I got a phone call, and the voice on the other end of that phone call is a trustworthy person. And he was saying to me that Kyrie Irving very badly wants to be a New York Knick,” Torre said, via Dan Feldman of Pro Basketball Talk. “Kyrie Irving wants to come home.”

The Cavs have no reason to care where Irving wants to be traded. The 24-year-old does not have a no-trade clause in his contract, so Cleveland will shop around for the best deal. Without getting a third or possibly fourth team involved, it’s highly unlikely the Knicks will be able to offer enough without giving up Kristaps Porzingis, and they aren’t going to do that.

It should be noted that the Knicks are still trying to work out a trade with the Houston Rockets involving Carmelo Anthony, and that will likely need to involve at least a third team as well. Could the Cavs factor into that deal somehow with Irving? It’s possible, though not probable.

With the way Irving is reportedly treating the Cavs, it seems like he believes he has leverage in this situation. That may be the case if he becomes enough of a malcontent, but he is still under contract for two more seasons. The Cavs don’t have to do anything they don’t want to do.