LeBron James has been relatively quiet this summer and reports about his lack of involvement in the Cavaliers’ offseason recruitment of potential free agents fueled rumors that he could potentially leave Cleveland next summer. That uncertainty about the future, coupled with a desire to be the star on his own team, led Kyrie Irving to move first and request that the Cavaliers trade him.
Trade talks have apparently not gone very far to this point, but all indications are that Cleveland will look to honor that request as soon as they can get a desirable deal — Minnesota is one of Irving’s preferred destinations and reportedly have “serious” interest in making a deal happen.
In the meantime, the Cavs have moved forward with the first steps in replacing Irving by signing Derrick Rose to a minimum deal. That move drew a tweet of approval from James, and it appears as though Irving’s request to get out from under LeBron’s shadow has woken the King from his summer of vacationing a bit early as he’s ready to get back to work with workouts in Las Vegas.
According to ESPN’s Chris Haynes, Rose has been invited to those workouts to expedite the chemistry building process between he and LeBron, and they will reportedly be joined by Suns’ point guard Eric Bledsoe, who has been rumored as a potential trade target of the Cavs in a trade sending Irving to the Suns.
That trio, among others, will workout in Vegas beginning as early as Wednesday, per Haynes. Bledsoe’s inclusion will only fuel rumors that he could be part of a trade package that sends Irving to the Suns. James has long been on record as someone who’s admired Bledsoe’s game from afar, and, while reports claimed he wouldn’t get involved in Irving trade talks, Bledsoe attending James’ workouts will, at least externally, appear to be a seal of approval for the oft-injured point guard with star potential.
James’ first public comments regarding Irving’s request were tweets denying reports he was “eager” for Irving to leave and, a far more explosive Stephen A. Smith rumor, he would be tempted to fight Irving if they were to come face-to-face in the near future. James said he was enjoying his summer and relaxing on vacation, but, it seems as though vacation is over and James is ready to get back to basketball to figure out how to play with his new teammate — potentially, teammates.
