David Robinson played with a lot of great players in his Hall of Fame career with the San Antonio Spurs, and he thinks one of the NBA’s best players would fit in well with his former team.
That player would be Cleveland Cavaliers superstar point guard Kyrie Irving, who allegedly has requested a trade. The Spurs were one of the four teams on his reported list of preferred trade destinations, too.
“We’d be crazy not to want a talented guy like that,” Robinson said during a recent radio interview on SiriusXM NBA.
“He’s been a force for them. You know, with our system—I can’t really speculate on what it would be like with him, but I certainly think you add a talent like that to a system that can really enhance his impact in the game and make him more efficient. It’s just an enjoyable atmosphere where your teammates encourage one another and love one another.”
Irving has played with one of the league’s top three players in LeBron James since “The King” returned to the Cavs before the 2014-15 season. If Irving went to San Antonio, he’d play with a very similar two-way star in Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard, who actually won NBA Finals MVP in 2014 against James’ Miami Heat.
The Spurs also are a better coached team than the Cavs, and San Antonio’s front office is much better run and doesn’t have any of the drama Cleveland’s has gone through of late.
The problem for the Spurs, assuming they’d want to trade for Irving, is they don’t have a ton of elite assets to deal aside from Leonard. LaMarcus Aldridge has been a bust as a marquee free agent and Dejounte Murray is a good young player, but likely not enough to be a main piece of a trade package for Irving.
The Spurs should at least try, though. Most of their Western Conference competitors, including the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets, improved their rosters in the offseason.
Thumbnail photo via David Richard/USA TODAY Sports Images
