A Knicks trade for Kyrie Irving seems unlikely at this point — considering Derrick Rose has already signed with the Cavs and Carmelo Anthony is determined to land in Houston — but if Irving were to still somehow get traded to New York, he and KP6 could easily become an exciting NBA duo. The possibilities for them in the pick and roll are endless due to Irving requiring so much defensive attention, because of his uncanny scoring ability, and with Porzingis’ insane length and size, there’s no question that they would give NBA defenses a hard time.
Now with Phil Jackson gone, Coach Hornacek can run a more modern style of offense, which means more pick and roll.
Porzingis could be an amazing roll man for any point guard because of his otherworldly length, but the pick-and-roll could be especially effective with Kyrie Irving. With Kyrie and Porzingis on the floor at the same time, switches through the pick and roll would almost become a guaranteed basket. When a guard switches onto him, Porzingis basically gets an open shot every time because he probably can’t even see the little man defending him — the closer to the rim the better. When a big is switched onto Kyrie, it is obvious what needs to be done:
Give Uncle Drew the ball and get out of the way!
Any big switched onto Kyrie is in for a ride.
This one-two punch could potentially ignite the NBA in a few years, when Porzingis is closer to his prime. Not only that, when rolling to the rim, KP’s length gives him and the point guard an advantage. Irving could drag the defense out to the perimeter, meaning that there would be less traffic in the paint, which would effectively create an endless supply of alley oops for Porzingis. It’s would be similar to what we saw with Chris Paul and Deandre Jordan, but instead Kyrie could throw the lob to the ceiling and Porzingis could still catch it.
Obviously KP and Uncle Drew would be a problem for the NBA if Irving were to land in New York. Although the chances are slim for a Kyrie Irving trade to the Knicks, anything is possible, but until he is traded, all hopeful Knicks fans can do is imagine the havoc him and Porzingis could create on the basketball court.
