The Cleveland Cavaliers’ offseason was turned on its head when Kyrie Irving requested a trade to take on a new challenge and set out on his own to be the star of his own team rather than LeBron James’ sidekick.
When news of Irving’s request was made public, it was a bombshell that led to more than a month of speculation and rumors about what the Cavs would do with their star point guard as the season was rapidly approaching. Ultimately, Cleveland chose to send Irving to the Celtics in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, and the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 first round pick. It was a solid haul considering the position Cleveland was in with a disgruntled star that wanted out.
While all signs pointed to Cleveland shipping Irving out in order to avoid any awkwardness starting the season with a point guard that no longer wanted to be there, it wasn’t a consensus in the organization that they should trade him. New general manager Koby Altman was tasked with finding a deal for Irving, but coach Tyronn Lue felt it could be possible to mend fences between Irving, James and the organization.
As ESPN’s Dave McMenamin noted in a recent profile on Altman, Lue pushed for the Cavs to keep Kyrie, citing how the Lakers held onto Kobe Bryant after a similar trade request when Lue was on the Lakers.
His coach, Tyronn Lue, advised they hold onto Irving, just like the Los Angeles Lakers did when Lue’s former teammate Bryant demanded a trade.
“We wanted to figure out, is this real?” Altman says. “Is Kyrie someone we might want to bring back and say, ‘Hey, look, players have figured it out in the past. You’re going to figure it out. We’re going to still be really good, we’re going to be winning games, so it’s not going to be all awful.’ You know what I mean? So thinking about the parameters of that, the implications of that was something we were also always debating.”
It’s fascinating to think how that would have worked out. The trade has, to this point, seemed to work out for all parties involved with Irving flourishing in Boston and the Cavs continuing to roll along despite Thomas not playing yet (he’ll debut on Tuesday night). The true test for both Irving and Cleveland isn’t with regular season success, but in the postseason when the two teams appear headed for a collision course in the East (although Toronto may have something to say about that).
If the Cavs stumble in the postseason and fail to reach the Finals for the first time since LeBron’s return, there will certainly be those that look back in hindsight and say that Lue might have been right and they should’ve tried to work things out this season before moving on from Kyrie. While the Kobe situation worked out in L.A., there’s no guarantee the locker room wouldn’t have splintered in Cleveland, causing more damage than good, and making the team look foolish for trying to reconcile with Irving.
Altman ultimately made the deal that seemed to give the Cavs everything they could possibly hope to get for Irving, with a strong point guard replacement (although one with unknowns due to health) and a Nets pick that, while likely not the top lottery pick, should still be a solid early first round selection that gives them a chance to build for the future.
