Nuggets: Why Denver should pursue a trade for Kyrie Irving
By Tom West
Ridiculous pick-and-roll with Irving and Jokic
Kyrie Irving certainly isn’t the best floor general out of all the top point guards in the NBA, but he’s a fantastic creator and scores incredibly well using the pick-and-roll.
Last season, Irving used pick-and-rolls in 34 percent of his possessions, sitting 14th in the NBA in points scored per game from such plays (7.8) with a ranking in the 82nd percentile for points per possession at 0.96, per NBA.com.
Defenses worrying about Irving storming past his man alone would be enough to create space for others when extra help defenders move into the lane to free up shooters, and his scoring ability to either drive to the rim or stop and pull-up off the dribble would defeat that defensive pressure a lot of the time as well.
To make matters even better, Irving’s pick-and-roll partnership with Nikola Jokic would be fantastic, not to mention off the charts in terms of entertainment value.
Jokic may have hardly any lift with his runs to the rim, but he still ranked in the 74th percentile as a roll man. Excellent hands, soft touch around the basket and a super efficient knack of stopping and dropping in hook shots and short jumpers (62.4 percent between 3-10 feet!) in the lane make Jokic highly effective. Defenders would have nightmares trying to contain the scoring danger of Irving and prevent Jokic from getting easy looks around the basket and from mid-range. Plus, the mid-range brilliance and three-point range of Jokic would be a perfect accompaniment for Irving in pick-and-pop scenarios.
Admittedly, there’s the issue of whether Irving would enjoy Jokic still having a lot of control of the ball due to his passing prowess. They’d be insanely fun to watch and could easily create the second-best offense in the NBA, but it seems as though Irving is seeking a situation where he can dominate the ball more (of course, Irving doesn’t actually get to decide where he’s traded).
However, this piece is focusing on the positives, which leads us onto the next factor to consider: how Jokic can help Irving and what staggering would do for them and the team.