NBA Trade Rumor: Kristaps Porzingis not available in possible Kyrie Irving trade

Just as more news came in regarding the focus of the Cleveland Cavaliers efforts to trade Kyrie Irving, we have a counter-report cooling the flames of any Irving to New York Knicks talk. While Kristaps Porzingis was identified as the Cavs primary target, it appears as though any odds of the team acquiring Porzingis are slim to none.

According to a report from Steve Marcus and Mike Rose of Newsday, the Knicks are not interested in moving Porzingis for Irving:

“[Knicks president] Steve Mills and [Knicks general manager] Scott Perry on the record were very clear that Kristaps was part of the future,’’ the source said in reference to comments made last month by both executives. “In all the discussions since then — there were other rumors before that Cleveland would want Kristaps — and it didn’t seem that [the Knicks] were interested at all in a conversation.’’

This shouldn’t be too surprising as acquiring Porzigins for Irving always seemed a little too good to be true. Trading him wouldn’t make much sense for the Knicks anyways, as it would leave them with a core of Irving and Tim Hardaway Jr. Not exactly the makings of a future contender.

While pairing Irving for Porzigis would be enticing, the motivation for a swap just never made sense. Unless the Knicks have a sudden change of heart and decide to build around Carmelo Anthony and Irving, any deal with the Knicks seems unlikely.

With his name off the list, that would mean the other names the Cavs are focusing on according to ESPN’s report would be Denver’s Jamal Murray, Phoenix’s Josh Jackson and Boston’s Jayson Tatum. At this point it seems like a deal is a ways away, as there have been few reports linking advanced talks with any of their respective teams.