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New York Knicks: Early pros, cons of a Kyrie Irving pursuit in free agency

ByRob Wolkenbrod|
NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 24: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics walks to the locker room after the game against the New York Knicks on February 24, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 24: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics walks to the locker room after the game against the New York Knicks on February 24, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
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BOSTON, MA – NOVEMBER 16: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics, wearing a mask due to a facial fracture, looks on during the first quarter against the Golden State Warriors at TD Garden on November 16, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA – NOVEMBER 16: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics, wearing a mask due to a facial fracture, looks on during the first quarter against the Golden State Warriors at TD Garden on November 16, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Con: Injury concerns

Kyrie Irving’s talent has never come into question in his seven NBA seasons. With five years of 20-plus points per game, world-class ball-handling skills and a 2016 championship on his resume, there’s much to celebrate.

However, injuries have played a part in Irving’s career more than once and as far back as his time at Duke.

Since the 2011-12 season, Irving’s rookie campaign, he has played in at least 70 games just three times. Other years resulted in 51, 53, 59 and 60 games played, due to a variety of injuries with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics.

Through everything, Irving has missed 133 games, over one and a half seasons. 22 of those happened in 2017-18, with knee surgery as the reason, and it took him out of the 2018 postseason, which the Celtics almost made the NBA Finals in.

There’s another 82-game schedule for Irving to go through, and he has not played an NBA game since the surgery. Can he hold up in a contract year and remove some doubts about durability?

If the New York Knicks sign Irving, of course, there are durability concerns. They already have this with Kristaps Porzingis, so is the potential risk worth it here?