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Kyrie Irving is ready to end his run with the Cleveland Cavaliers, as league sources told ESPN that the point guard has asked the team to trade him.

The request came last week and was made to Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. Irving has expressed that he wants to play in a situation where he can be more of a focal point and that he no longer wants to play alongside LeBron James, sources said.

Among several possibilities discussed in Irving's meeting with the Cavaliers, the San Antonio Spurs were raised as a preferred destination, league sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Other teams Irving said he'd be willing to join were the New York Knicks, Miami Heat and Minnesota Timberwolves, league sources told ESPN.

The Knicks have strong interest in acquiring Irving via trade, but as of Friday night, they were not willing to include Kristaps Porzingis in any potential deal, league sources told ESPN's Ian Begley. The Knicks, sources told Begley, would consider including Carmelo Anthony and future first-round picks in a package for the All-Star point guard. The Cavaliers' interest in such a package is unclear.

Irving also considered the Chicago Bulls before they traded Jimmy Butler, league sources told Begley.

Irving's agent, Jeff Wechsler, would not confirm or deny whether the point guard asked for a trade.

"Kyrie and I had a meeting with Cavs leadership where we discussed many different scenarios in reference to Kyrie and his future with the team," Wechsler told Wojnarowski. "The basis of those discussions and what went on in those discussions are between the Cavs and us. We are respectfully going to keep those private."

Sources told ESPN's Chris Haynes that the Cavaliers were disturbed that Irving's request was made public, believing it could affect his trade value.

The Cavaliers parted with general manager David Griffin last month after they couldn't come to an agreement on a contract extension. Cleveland has yet to name Griffin's replacement -- sources told ESPN's Wojnarowski that promoting assistant general manager Koby Altman to GM is imminent -- and James, the franchise centerpiece, has reportedly expressed concern about the team's direction.

James was informed of Irving's request and was blindsided and disappointed, sources said. Irving did talk about the meeting to several other teammates, a league source told ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

News of the request comes days after Irving told Sports Illustrated that the Cavaliers were in a "very peculiar" place this offseason.

"We just have to, you know, make sure that all our pieces are aligned first, and then we go from there," Irving told the magazine. "It's the summertime, a lot of craziness going on in the NBA."

Irving, 25, has been with the Cavaliers since they made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 draft. After Irving and the Cavs plodded through three losing seasons, their fortunes changed when James returned. The Big Three of James, Irving and Kevin Love has reached the past three NBA Finals, winning the title in 2016.

Love appeared to allude to Irving's request in a tweet Friday, saying, "Things are a little peculiar."

How to handle Irving's situation is complex for the Cavs, as James can be a free agent next summer. Irving has three years and $60 million left on his contract, but he can opt out of the final year before the 2019-20 season.

By asking for a trade, Irving would be willingly giving up the chance to qualify for and sign a "supermax" contract with the Cavs in 2019. This provision, installed in the just-started collective bargaining agreement, was meant to deter star players from leaving their teams as they came up on their third contract. This is when numerous stars want to move, as has played out with Kevin Durant, Gordon Hayward and Paul George.

Irving's contract contains a 15 percent trade bonus that would pay him an additional $2.9 million in both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.

After winning the Eastern Conference title in May, Irving described his closeness with James and how staying together can benefit them.

"When you get to that level of trust and you allow someone to come into a friendship that extends well off the court," Irving said, "and you understand how great this era can be if we are selfless to the point where we don't think about anything else except for the greatness of our team and what we can accomplish."

Irving had a good relationship with Griffin, who was a point man in selling Irving on a five-year contract extension in 2014 even though the team was coming off four consecutive losing seasons.

Griffin understood that Irving's desires for his career had to be managed and worked regularly to challenge Irving and, at times, soothe him. Coach Tyronn Lue is also a strong supporter of Irving and has been a strong defender when Irving's game -- which is sometimes more shoot-first than pass-first for a point guard -- has come under criticism.

When Irving signed his deal, he expected to be the franchise player for the foreseeable future. But about two weeks later, James arrived from Miami. The sudden change of situation rocked Irving, and he has vacillated at times over the past three years about working as a secondary star to James and the original plan of having his own team.

He discussed the challenge during last month's NBA Finals.

"Having just a tremendously great player like that come to your team, and you see yourself being one of those great players eventually, and then he ends up joining it and then now you have to almost take a step back and observe," Irving said. "Finding that balance is one of the toughest things to do because you have so much belief and confidence in yourself. ... Selfishly, I always wanted to just show everyone in the whole entire world exactly who I was every single time."

With this in mind, Irving considered requesting a trade after the Cavs' championship last season but decided against it, sources said.

Irving, a four-time All-Star, has averaged 21.6 points and 5.6 assists per game for his career. Last season, he averaged a career-high 25.2 points to go with 5.8 assists per game while shooting 40.1 percent on 3-pointers.

However, Irving has not excelled when playing without James. Last season, the Cavs were outscored by 90 points in 574 minutes when Irving played and James didn't. In the playoffs, they were outscored by 30 points in 61 minutes. In the Finals against the Golden State Warriors, the Cavs were outscored 37-13 when Irving was on the court and James was off.

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Carmelo Anthony has been a No. 1 scoring option for his entire career. Possessions run through him. Plays are designed for him. The ball is in his hands late in close games.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

"If I have a chance to be the second option, I will definitely be the second option. That just takes the load off of me," Anthony told reporters in 2015. "I don't have to go out there and do it every night. All-Star players, we want that light, we want to be the focal point of our team, of our organization. But if we get somebody to come in and help us out, that's a load off of us. That's helpful."

That theory was never put to the test with the New York Knicks. Phil Jackson couldn't pair Anthony with another star. But if he gets his wish and is dealt to the Houston Rockets, Anthony would be the second or third option on a team for the first time in his 14-year career.

Can that actually work? Can Anthony, a player who has grown accustomed to dominating the ball for 14 seasons, change his ways?

The answer, which might come as a surprise to some, is that he already has. There's a formula for getting the best version of Anthony. It has been on display every four years in the Olympics. It has even emerged intermittently during his NBA career.

The method is pretty simple, actually: It involves a talented point guard, capable shooters and a rim-protecting big man. And it's reasonable to think that it can be discovered once again in Houston.

'Team USA' Melo unlocked in Houston?

The initial reaction to an Anthony-to-Houston trade might be to cast doubt on the newcomer's ability to thrive alongside ball-dominant stars in James Harden and Chris Paul. Although he has had brief stints playing alongside other high-usage players -- Allen Iverson in Denver and Amar'e Stoudemire and Derrick Rose in New York -- Anthony is accustomed to having the ball in his hands and operating as the unquestioned No. 1 option. He has led his team in usage rate every year of his career. Last season, he used a team-high 29.1 percent of the Knicks' possessions when he was on the court.

Without even factoring in the addition of Paul, the fact that Harden posted a usage rate of 34.1 percent last season -- second in the league to MVP Russell Westbrook -- means Anthony would be hooking up with the most ball-dominant teammate of his career in Houston.

While this is uncharted NBA territory for Melo, we've seen the 33-year-old forward thrive as the second or third option several times over the course of his Team USA career. Sure, it's easy to succeed when surrounded by the game's best, but Anthony transforms into a different player with stars by his side. And that means taking a back seat.

His role as a potentially second or third scorer in Houston would be larger than it was on a stacked Olympic roster, of course, but there are some similarities that show how Anthony can be devastatingly effective when he's not a top scoring option.

Despite coming off the bench as the sixth man in the 2012 London Games, Anthony still ranked second on the team in scoring behind Kevin Durant. That's the summer when Anthony posted a U.S. Olympic record 37 points in 14 minutes against Nigeria.

Anthony has been effective from the perimeter when surrounded by top talent -- something that would transfer to some degree to any situation in Houston. He shot a blistering 50 percent from beyond the 3-point line during the 2012 Olympics (a line that is 19 inches closer to the basket than the NBA's). And he shied away from the isolation-heavy approach that has been his default in New York.

More than half of his points were scored from spot-ups (30 percent) or in transition (22 percent) that summer -- two hallmarks of Houston's offense. Only 13 percent of his points came via isolation. Though he ran less and isolated more during the 2016 Olympics than in 2012, Anthony still spotted up on 24 percent of his offensive plays, which would seem to translate well to Houston's offense.

Now, the London Olympics were five years ago and Nigeria can't compete with the Golden State Warriors. But Anthony has played this role in some form or another in three different Olympics, ample evidence that if he isn't asked to lead an offense, he can be an incredibly effective weapon.

Guards are the key to Melo's success

As a Rocket, Anthony would share the court with two of the NBA's best distributors in Harden and Paul. Those who know Anthony's game best believe he's at his peak when paired with a top point guard.

"We had the most success when we had Andre [Miller] and/or Chauncey [Billups] -- when we had a point guard that kind of orchestrated the rhythm of the offense," George Karl, who coached Anthony for parts of seven seasons in Denver, said in an interview with ESPN in 2015. "... If [Anthony] has a good orchestrator, he's going to be a helluva scorer for you."

Paul certainly qualifies as a good orchestrator -- if not tops in the league -- and would be the best guard to play alongside Anthony in his career. Paul's player efficiency rating (PER) of 26.25 last season is nearly 20 percent higher than any mark that one of Anthony's point guards reached (Billups recorded a PER of 20.25 in 2009-10, and Iverson had a PER of 21.06 in 2007-08.)

Paul also ranked in the top five overall in ESPN's Real Plus-Minus in three of the past four seasons, proof he can do things on both ends of the floor that Anthony's previous point guards could not.

Anthony has arguably had to create his own shot as often as any other player over the past six seasons. He ranked fourth in the NBA in isolation frequency in 2016-17 (23.1 percent of his plays) and second in 2015-16 (23.7), according to NBA.com/Stats. Contrary to popular belief, that's not necessarily something he welcomes.

"I've always been willing to pass the ball," he said in 2016. Anthony also has talked regularly about the importance of strong point guard play. "It takes a lot of pressure off me to try to do everything," he said when the Knicks added Jason Kidd in 2012.

And his win-loss records reflect the idea. The 2010 Nuggets reached the Western Conference finals with Billups at point guard; the 2013 Knicks won 54 games with Kidd at lead guard. With a Paul-Harden duo, Houston's loaded backcourt certainly would surpass both of those teams -- the most successful of Anthony's career.

Don't forget about New York

It appears unlikely, but there's a chance Anthony remains with the Knicks for the 2017-18 season. If that happens, it's tough to project how Anthony would fit, because the Knicks are still looking for a point guard. With Anthony on the books, New York would likely have to sign a guard with the veteran's minimum exception. Currently, 18-year-old rookie Frank Ntilikina is the only point guard on the roster, and the rest of the backcourt (Tim Hardaway Jr. and Ron Baker) doesn't exactly boast strong facilitators.

The Knicks' plan for Anthony also is unknown. Under Jackson, there were internal discussions about reducing Anthony's minutes or bringing him off the bench if he returned in 2016-17, according to league sources. It's unclear if the new front office of president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry share the same outlook.

Absent a high-usage point guard like Derrick Rose, it seems plausible that Anthony would return to the facilitating role that he played two years ago. Anthony averaged a career-high 4.2 assists per game in 2015-16 season during Kristaps Porzingis' rookie year.

The general feeling in the Knicks' organization is that Anthony might inhibit Porzingis' development. But there was evidence last season that Anthony had broken some of his ball-stopping habits and that he could help ease the burden on Porzingis.

Anthony averaged fewer seconds and dribbles per touch last season than he did in 2015-16 -- though the presence of Rose likely contributed to this -- and he has shaved off nearly a half-second per touch from 2013-14 to 2016-17.

That could bode well for the continued development of the 21-year-old Porzingis, who shot much better off Anthony passes last season than during his rookie season.

Porzingis' 12 percent increase in field goal percentage off passes from Anthony dwarfed his improvement on passes from everyone else -- a sign that the two forwards could build on the strong two-man game they started to establish two seasons ago.

Of course, the Knicks' roster doesn't fit the formula that has unlocked the best version of Anthony in the past. There's no Jason Kidd or Chauncey Billups in New York this season. But if Anthony can play the role of distributor and shot creator for Porzingis, it could unlock an unexpected formula for success for the Knicks.