Cleveland Cavaliers: Is a western conference team out of the hunt for Kyrie Irving?

The Cleveland Cavaliers have had options with what they could do with guard Kyrie Irving. Today though, the list of alternatives appears to have diminished.

What will the Cleveland Cavaliers do with Kyrie Irving? Will he get traded or is he actually going to remain with the team later this year?

Time will tell, but now that the Cavaliers have a general manager and are starting to make moves, perhaps a trade involving Irving happens a lot sooner than one could expect. There has been multiple teams rumored as destinations for Irving.

Some of them like the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves are known preferences of Irving. However, other teams have been discussed too like the Sacramento Kings.

Should Cleveland move on from Irving, win now pieces and/or long-term assets must be acquired (ideally both).

As the discussions continue on one team that could have fit Cleveland’s match for a trade partner appears to have pulled out from the Irving sweepstakes. According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7, the Phoenix Suns are not going to trade forward Josh Jackson in a trade for Irving.

The Phoenix Suns will NOT include Josh Jackson in any trade for Kyrie Irving.
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) July 25, 2017

Now, this news is not officially eliminating Phoenix from trade discussions with Cleveland, but that is the writing on the wall. Still, with the Suns not willing to include Jackson, their chances of acquiring Irving are basically gone!

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Jackson is the key to making any and all trades beneficial from the Cavaliers’ point of view.

Despite what was announced, never say never. If you recall, Cleveland’s former coach David Blatt stated after they drafted forward Andrew Wiggins that they would trade him for power forward Kevin Love.

Well, we all know how that worked out.

Similar hype surrounding Wiggins then has been to an extent expressed the same way regarding Jackson. Any other year, Jackson would have been the first pick in the draft like Wiggins was. Jackson arguably could have been the choice, but the teams picking ahead of the Suns had other reasons to bypass him.

Still, the former Kansas Jayhawk could display the beginnings of a career that compares well to Wiggins.

Even if Jackson was included in an Irving trade, Phoenix still would not have enough of an intriguing trade package to really entice the Cavaliers. More would be needed, but it is not often that we actually see teams giving up star players and they get a truly significant trade package in return.

Next: Kyrie's an unwelcome distraction to the Tribe

Anything can change when it comes to trade discussions. However, given that Cleveland is in a win-now mode but also needs to consider preparing for what could be, just be ready for the unexpected.

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