One small caveat: It was over five years ago, and it was only to play alongside Jimmy Butler.
Back in the summer of 2017, a month before Irving told his own Cavaliers front office he was looking to get out of Cleveland, the Sun-Times reported about the attempted teaming up Butler and Irving were trying to pull off.
The two became close friends in the Team USA experience, and wanted that to continue on the NBA level.
Enough so that Butler – still with the Bulls at the time – told then-general manager Gar Forman and vice president of basketball John Paxson that Irving wanted to make the move.