Some NBA players develop a reputation that supersedes their actual on-court impact.
Aging millennial fans will remember Nick Van Exel. Random example: it could have been Rod Strickland. Perhaps it should be Tracy McGrady, but let’s avoid that collective trauma.
The memories are visceral. Van Exel was a joy. He was so talented, but never especially impactful.
Van Exel was ball dominant. He made bad decisions. He wasn’t much of a defender. He was one of the most fun players in the NBA to watch, until
he was on your team.
Kyrie Irving has a similar mythology. He’s much better than Van Exel, don’t get me wrong. Irving impacts winning, but somehow, his immense talent outpaces his actual production anyway. He is on an extremely small list of the most skillful basketball players in NBA history.
It’s a matter of scale. In his prime, Van Exel was one of the fifteen-or-so most talented players in the NBA, but he was a fringe top-50 guy at best. Irving is…what? One of the one, two, or three most talented basketball players of his generation? But he’s likely never been a true top-ten player.
The Houston Rockets have been linked to Irving in trade rumors. Sure, they’re linked to just about everyone, but given Rafael Stone’s love of a good bargain, this one feels different.
But should he go after him?
Rockets regularly linked to Kyrie Irving
There’s a temptation to answer with yes, simply for the sake of having an excuse to watch Irving more often without being reminded that Cooper Flagg is yet another future MVP candidate who isn’t on the Houston Rockets.
Yet, that’s not a good reason to advocate for a player acquisition. So, I’ll cop out instead. The Rockets should be interested in Irving at the right price.
When we last saw Irving healthy, he was mostly the same player he’d been throughout most of his career. His 3.4 Box Plus/Minus (BPM) fell short of the 7.7 mark he posted in 2019-20 (wait: Was Irving a top ten player?), but he still scored 24.7 points per game with a very solid 59.4% True Shooting %.
He also makes sound conceptual sense for the Rockets. Insulate two of the best shot creators of their generation in Irving and Durant with a murderer’s row of defensive wings. It also helps that they have long-standing chemistry (although who knows what their personal relationship looks like, given that they’re both, let’s say, interesting guys). Finally, it also helps that they’re both logical partners for Alperen Sengun, given their elite three-point gravity.
There are immediate basketball downsides, but they shouldn’t be enough to dissuade Rafael Stone. Irving will be earmarked for a starting position that will present an obstacle for Reed Sheppard, but Fred VanVleet is already there.
The broader implications are more concerning. Even in 2024-25, Irving managed to suit up for just 50 games. He couldn’t play last year. Will he even get on the floor?
It’s a real concern, but it’s also the reason why Irving’s trade value ought to be relatively low. So, without further ado, here’s my price:
Fred VanVleet, Clint Capela, and the Rockets’ 2028 first-round pick, top five protected.
Take it or leave it, Mavericks fans. The Rockets should protect their pick against abject disaster. If something goes so poorly that they’re picking in the top five in two summers, there’s a reasonable chance it’s at least partly on Irving’s shoulders.
Perhaps that’s not enough. If so, the Mavericks can keep Irving. He’s injury-prone, infamously troubled, and a Rockets team without a clear franchise player moving forward would do well to keep their picks anyway:
But dear God, is the guy talented.
