As we move away from the initial surprise of Kyrie Irving’s request to be traded out of Cleveland, we’ve learned more about just what made the 25-year-old want to get away from LeBron James so badly.
ESPN has a three-byline story with two contributors that’s full of details about the deteriorating state of Irving and the Cavaliers. There’s a lot to take in, starting with the decision not to keep general manager David Griffin and the pursuit of trades for Jimmy Butler and Paul George.
One reason for Irving’s frustration was that he was kept in the dark about these deals, and also there was talk about Irving himself getting traded. But what’s interesting is that at one point the Cavaliers thought a deal for George was done before they got a text message from the Pacers saying they were out.
On the afternoon of June 30, the sides thought they had a deal. On a conference call between the teams, everyone tentatively agreed. George to the Cavs, Love to the Nuggets, Harris and other pieces to the Pacers, sources said.
Plans were put in place for a call to be arranged between George and Gilbert, an important step before the trade would become final, sources said. The front office began making other plans to complement George as free agency was about to begin.
But then Pritchard, who had been on the conference call when the deal was tentatively agreed to, sent the message that his team was backing out, sources said. There was no deal.
No one knows exactly what happened to make the Pacers back out, but shortly thereafter George was traded to the Thunder and the Cavs had lost out on acquiring another significant player. Then their choice for a replacement GM, Chauncey Billups, backed out as well. In other words, it hasn’t been a great summer for the Cavs in more ways than one.
Then there’s also an anonymous quote from a current Cavs player that expresses how disappointed the team is that Irving wants to go elsewhere.
“Sure, we’ve had our fair share of moments and kind of chaotic times, and that’s obviously been well documented, but at the same time we’ve had a lot of joy,” one Cavs player told ESPN. “I hope Kyrie is with us, that’s all I got to say. At the end of the day, we’re pretty f—ing good.”
As for what made Irving so upset, the story says that he simply doesn’t get the ball enough but there are other issues that piled up. Not being the focal point, it seems, meant that Irving could find slights everywhere despite the benefits of success that playing in Cleveland with LeBron brings. Including that he couldn’t get any friends to work for the Cavs.
But there were ancillary issues that bothered Irving, too, such as how James’ good friend Randy Mims had a position on the Cavs’ staff and traveled on the team plane while none of Irving’s close friends were afforded the same opportunity. Irving chafed about how peers such as Damian Lillard and John Wall were the center of their franchises and catered to accordingly. There’s irony there, as Wall was envious of Irving’s Nike shoe deal and Lillard has never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs. Irving has been to three Finals and has a championship.
It sounds very much like the mental state of someone who is tired of working in the same place and is looking for reasons to get out. And some of them are justified, of course, but it’s difficult to understand exactly what Irving is feeling because—on the outside—it doesn’t look like all that bad of a gig.
