After five days of non-stop Kyrie Irving trade rumors, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert tried to slam on the brakes at a press conference this afternoon.
The purpose of the event was to introduce newly appointed GM Koby Altman, but the subject inevitably turned to Irving and the trade demand he reportedly made during a private meeting with Gilbert earlier this month.
Gilbert refused to acknowledge that Irving wants to be traded and wouldn’t say if he and Altman plan to grant the request if it is true. He then threw the media a curveball, saying he expects to have Irving on the floor when training camp opens in September.
“Right now, Kyrie Irving is under contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers for two or three years, depending on the last year,” Gilbert said, as Irving holds a player option for 2019/20. “As of now, he’s one of our best players, and sure, we expect him to be in camp.”
Prepare for an overflow media turnout for the first day of camp if that happens. Irving’s desires to get out of Cleveland and his simmering social media feud with LeBron James have been on public display since the subject of that meeting with Gilbert was made public last Friday.
According to reports, Irving has named the Spurs, Heat, Timberwolves and Knicks as the places he would like to go. The Cavaliers have been inundated with calls inquiring about an Irving deal, and ESPN’s Zach Lowe wrote on Monday that the team is “acting as if a trade is almost inevitable.”
However, Gilbert and the Cavs have no obligation to honor Irving’s request. If they can’t find an acceptable deal, they could hand onto to Irving through the summer and bring him into camp just as Gilbert suggested.
Our question for today is: How do you think that would turn out? Could Kyrie and LeBron bury the hatchet and combine their talents for another trip to the NBA Finals? Or would the inner strife tear the team apart?
Please take to the comments section and share your thoughts on this topic. We look forward to what you have to say.
Winning trumps everything. If he goes to the Knicks, doesn’t win. If he goes to any team in the West, doesn’t win. Only way is Cleveland. Wants to be the ‘man’ basically that means Westbrook all by himself in OKC. Worked well?
the thunder lost Durant without replacing him, Westbrook did great. a top talent leaves a top 3 team, obviously they will fall
He’s not saying Westbrook didn’t do great, it’s that he did great and how did that end up? Like the 6 seed
And then they added PG13. Just because you go to a team and don’t win year 1 doesn’t mean you can’t build. Using Westbrook is a poor example when you consider he won MVP and then added a top NBA talent to his team.
Yes I am saying going to the Knicks is a life of purgatory flirting with bottom of the playoffs and going to any team in the West not in GS is a losing situation. PG13 maybe gets them a step closer in OKC. Well see. But still, the point remains go be the Man and it’s not going to work out in this NBA.
I’m already not liking this Koby guy, the man wants to be the face of the franchise and Lebron is already working out with Rose and Bledsoe. You seriously plan on putting out a product October which will be downright awkward?
LBJ and Bledsoe are friends (as well as Rose/LBJ). Bledsoe has the same agent as LBJ. It’s only awkward because of the Irving situation.
Hypothetical Trade Idea (Before 2017 Draft)
CLE: Paul George, Eric Bledose, Wilson Chandler, Darrell Arthur, Rakeem Christmas, 47th Pick (IND)
DEN: Kevin Love, Cedi Osman, 18th Pick (IND)
IND: Kyrie Irving, Kay Felder
PHX: Emmanuel Mudiay, Iman Shumpert 13th Pick (DEN)
Who would you say declines? I would say Phoenix but they were talking to Denver about Mudiay and the 13th for Bledsoe so I think all teams might accept
uh the cavs because they trade 2 young superstars for a middle of the road PG and a rental and a bunch of bull
They trade Kyrie for George because Kyrie wants out of Cleveland. I’ll assume Love is the other “young superstar” even though he’s 29 and not a superstar. He’s traded for a good two way pg and bench pieces since the Cavs bench is garbage
How is the Cavs bench “garbage”? They were good enough to support a 3x Eastern Conf finals team. What are you expecting from a bench? 20 pts a game guys?
Their bench was no good. If it were any good LeBron wouldn’t need to play 42 minutes.
I expect a bench which can allow LeBron a rest during the game. Your argument that they supported a perennial ecf team doesn’t work. LeBron is good enough to take the Cavs to the finals by himself. In order to take down the warriors, he needs a bench which can not be a massive negative when they enter for him
I would say that Love and Bledsoe are both stars but Love is still a better value player. Please keep in mind that his numbers are suppressed as the 3rd option being two ball-dominant players. Prior to coming to Cleveland he was the Paul George of the T-Wolves. He avgd 29pts, 13 rebounds and 4 assists per game on .457/.376/.821 shooting. Poor performances vs the GSW are the only thing that I think stick in the minds of people. It simple is unfair how people view the likes of Love and Bosh once they join a LBJ super-team.
But Bledsoe is a very good star caliber player. He’s no Kyrie but who is?
I agree. My thinking was the Cavs would need a good pg with Kyrie being traded tho and Love is the only trade piece. Cavs could then slide Bron to the 4 and run a lineup of Bledsoe-JR-PG-Bron-Thompson.
How is Bledsoe middle of the road when he’s younger than Love who you described as a young superstar?
Hypothetical is right …
You can’t have that tension in the locker room. they need to trade him now.
LeBron will be gone after the season is over, if Kyrie can hold on, he will be the face of the team.