Kyrie Irving shocked the NBA world when he requested to be removed from the Cleveland Cavaliers roster. He declared that he did not want to play with arguably the best player in the league in LeBron James anymore and that he wanted to be the "focal point" for another team. There are a lot of teams that would want to sign the star and he would make certain teams significantly better.
News has come out that Irving thought that LeBron wanted him out and that miscommunication played a part in his decision to want to leave. In reality, Kyrie Irving could be staying put in Cleveland after all and the big three will stay put for at least another year.
The miscommunication
Kyrie Irving supposedly thought that LeBron James wanted him out, which led to him wanting to leave. According to an article by Joshua Schrock via NESN gives valuable insight into the star point guard's request. The article states Irving's overall displeasure. It says, "Irving also apparently was irked the Cavs had included him in trade talks for Paul George." His request could have stemmed out of anger over being possibly traded by the organization.
A possible deal to get Paul George and other players irked Kyrie to the point of wanting to leave. The pick that the Cavs would have gotten would have helped big time and paid big dividends. The Cavaliers were going to plan on using the No.
4 pick to acquire Paul George. Irving found out about the supposed deal and thought that James had given consent, but this was not the case at all.
What could have been
The article goes into what supposedly could have happened as Fox Sport's Chris Broussard reported on the show "The Herd with with Colin Cowherd." It states, "The Cavs, Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns had a deal in place to send Irving to Phoenix, and the star guard believes that James was trying to force him out of town." Broussard had more to say about the possible trade.
Broussard states, "I'm told that the Cavaliers had a deal done heading into the draft." Ultimately, it would have worked out for both sides. The Suns would have gotten Kyrie Irving, while Phoenix would send star Eric Bledsoe and a No. 4 pick to the Cavaliers. So the Cavs would be getting a great player in Bledsoe and get a pick to draft a young star or what they were planning on doing was using it to acquire lethal shooter and defensive player PG13.
Cavaliers outlook with the deal
So, the Cavaliers ultimately would have gotten Eric Bledsoe and Paul George for just giving up Kyrie Irving. Kyrie Irving is an amazing player, but he is not good on the defensive side of the ball. If the Cavs were able to get both Eric Bledsoe and Paul George, they could have a better super team. Bledsoe is a good player that can shoot and get to the rim. Paul George is another lethal shooter and one who plays great defense.
The Cavs with this new lineup would be able to compete against the Golden State Warriors, who are looking phenomenal heading into the next season as they have the same team and more.
So in the scheme of things, Kyrie will be staying put in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers will be looking to challenge the Warriors with the same team next year. Although, LeBron James could be wearing another team's jersey after next season. Cavs fans can take a breather for now though as their team will be intact for another year.
