LeBron James is aware of Kyrie Irving‘s trade request and it appears he’s not going to sit around and be passive in the situation. According to ESPN’s Pablo Torre (h/t Carter Rodriquez of SB Nation), James is “hustling on behalf” of the Cavaliers in regards to finding an Irving trade.
“LeBron James is doing some LeBron James offseason work,” Torre said on ESPN’s first take. “And my understanding is it’s not just Derrick Rose, it’s not just Eric Bledsoe. LeBron James happens to know a guy named James Jones . . . LeBron James is hustling behind the scenes, is my understanding, asking ‘Is Josh Jackson available for Kyrie Irving?’ And the answer back that I heard is ‘no, he is not.’ But LeBron James is hustling on behalf of the Cleveland Cavaliers, at least for this one year.”
Phoenix recently named Jones, who is a longtime friend and teammate of LBJ’s, as its vice president of basketball operations. The first time executive played for the Cavs alongside James and Irving over the last three seasons.
The Suns are not on Irving’s short list of teams of which the Duke product would prefer. However, Irving does not wield a no-trade clause, so the team could ship him anywhere it finds a deal without the point guard’s permission.
If Phoenix relents on its unwillingness to include Jackson in an Irving trade, a deal centered around Bledsoe and this year’s No. 4 overall pick arguably could be Cleveland’s best option on the market. Bledsoe, who shares an agent with James, recently worked out with Rose and the 4-time NBA MVP.
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Bledsoe, Warren, Chandler, future 1st for Irving and Shumpert.
I’d pass on that if I was cavs
more like bledsoe, Jackson, warren and chandler Irving is too good if he was a star on his own team he’s easily averaging 30PPG
well……the article said the suns would reject jackson for irving straight up. so if you include warren, bledsoe and chandler then im not sure you understand how back and forth trading works
He’s also giving that 30 back on D. You don’t give up half your roster for him.
Seems fair, Shumpert needs out with Korver and all that plus a 1st round pick would be worth it for the Cavs. Bledsoe is very underrated and Tyson still has some years, and TJ Warren has a bright future.
To much Warren out and I think is a good trade for booth sides
Lol of course you do.
If I were the suns, I’d offer Bledsoe, Marquis Chriss, TJ Warren and a couple 1st rounder for Irving. Nothing more. Especially Josh Jackson.
Funny how much people value a “Josh Jackson” but have no problem giving up future 1st rnd picks. What if the Suns end up having a top 3 pick next year? It seems like they don’t care about a pick until the pick has a name…..haha.
They have two Miami picks. They could use those and not give up their own.
And get turned down
If you trade for Kyrie, you’re highly unlikely to be selecting in the top three next year.
And yet the Cavs did exactly that when they drafted Wiggins #1 overall….
What?
Oh never mind I get it lol
Josh Jackson is going nowhere. This is all jibber jabber, folks. Nothing to see here
You never know. People try to make these bold statements, but no one knows for sure. Devin Booker didn’t even start in college, and the Suns have turned him into a franchise like guy already at age 20… so a josh Jackson that has crazy potential, we will see we will
I’m saying that Josh Jackson won’t be traded. I, as a Suns fan, will not stand for it. I will write some very sternly worded letters to management if it happens.
I don’t see any reason to believe this. If LeBron really is leaving after this year why would he want to trade an all star for a rookie. Doesn’t add up.
I think Josh Jackson will have a good career but no rookie is gonna make much of an impact in the finals.
Why because Cleveland is still he’s home team so if he does leave he may won’t to try and set them up for a fast rebuild
but then again if that was the case then he would except a trade if they had one for him
*accept
Well maybe he’s not leaving. Just because he left once doesn’t mean it’s a certainty he leaves again.
LeBron is a snake Bledsoe and Chandler are enough for Irving. Warren Chriss to much
you wish
Alright let’s get realistic here I either see cavs fans thinking they are going to get a kings ransom for a player that has made it known he doesn’t want to be there or Suns homers that think Spare parts and injury prone players will get him.
Suns get kyrie, Thompson
Cavs get: Bledsoe, Chandler, Warren, Bender, both of the Miami picks.
That gives the Suns Irving and a younger center in Thompson. The cavs get a kyrie replacement in Bledsoe, a solid rim defender and defender in Chandler, offensive off the bench in Warren, a young talent to develop in bender and they can use the Miami picks to get melo from New York.
So stupid, Pheonix has a bright future and with so trades make all bullshit
So we give you one of the best and most popular players in the game and you give us Bledsoe and bench players? No.
No, if you pay attention to the original post the 2 Miami picks are used to get melo so don’t look at it as getting two picks plus those others. It’s basically getting Bledsoe, and melo who will both start, Chandler is a cheaper taller version of Thompson, Warren is the 6th man off the bench that can score and bender is a young player that the cavs say they covet in case Lebron leaves after next year. Getting two starters and 2 more legit rotation pieces and a young top 4 pick from a year ago for a player that has made in known he doesn’t want to play in Cleveland is a pretty decent deal.
This whole idea that Josh Jackson isn’t available in a Kyrie Irving deal is absurd to me. Irving is a top 5 Point Guard in the league at a bare minimum, and you could easily make the argument that he’s in the top 3. Jackson has yet to play a single NBA game, and is far from definition of a “sure fire prospect”. Yeah yeah, great potential, his game will certainly translate at least on the defensive side, but his offense could easily be very average for quite some time.
What am I missing? Irving has two years of team control and is for certain to be a top 5 player at his position for quite sometime. This idea that Jackson, in and of himself, is untouchable is baffling. If your the Suns, sure, you try and move other pieces in a deal for Irving, but if the Cavs say “no no, Jackson is a must” then the retort is obvious. You give up Jackson but you offer significantly lesser pieces around him. Do you give up the house for Irving? No. But giving up Jackson should not be a non starter if the other guys included in the trade are chump change.
Curry, Westbrook, Paul, Wall, Lowry, Greek freak, Harden, Lilliard, etc are all better and you can make arguments for Thomas and Walker. Irving is Top 10 but not 5
I wouldn’t call Lowry better, and if you’re going to put Giannis in that group then you have to throw LeBron in there (and might as well throw Draymond in there if we’re going to count point fowards). And Harden is still classified as a shooting guard even though his role is basically that of a point guard.
Curry, Westbrook, Paul, and Wall are all better. Kyrie, Lillard, Thomas, and Walker are in that next tier. Kyrie’s main weakness is his offense, so you can’t put Thomas ahead of Kyrie when Thomas was one of the worst defenders in the league last year. Walker has a better two-way game, but he’s not necessarily elite in any skill (whereas Kyrie is an elite offensive player). Lillard is right there with Kyrie…you could make an argument for both and only diehard Kyrie/Cavs and Lillard/Trailblazers fans would probably disagree. Kyrie, in my opinion, gets the slight edge because he seems to play better against the Warriors than Lillard does (granted LeBron on the Cavs makes a huge difference, but both are still likely to be guarded by Klay Thompson and Kyrie seems to perform better).
Tell bron you sign a 4 year extension and we’ll convince Michael Jordan to come back for us, but if you are leaving gfys
So the Cavs are going to bring Michael Jordan out of retirement if LeBron chooses to sign an extension? And if not, the Cavs should not try to prepare for a rebuild and just let LeBron walk and trade Kyrie for scraps?
Would the ‘Suns’ be so silly to cave to the wishes of King LeBron? I hope not!!!!
PS Why isn’t James ‘angling’ for Ben Simmons?
He is his mentor and Simmons probably would be willing to follow him to the Lakers when it’s time!!!! Via trade of course, but I think he would!
There isn’t enough ball out there to play Simmons and LeBron together. Both are ball-dominant point fowards. Simmons, as far as we know, can not shoot from outside making him an even worse fit next to LeBron.
Think about this Lebron can carry the team 2-3 more years. If Bledsoe stays healthy the team doesn’t really skip a beat in making it to the finals. 2-3 years all these contracts are gone: Cavs have caps space and could have only Josh Jackson and Lebron under contract. Josh Jackson is very athleTic. So maybe Lebron hopes he can do more when Lebron isn’t a dominant force.
A question for all everyone expects Lebron to fall off at some point. What if he doesn’t ?? When does his career end? Obviously at 45 he wouldn’t be playing but does be play passed 40 does his son get drafted and he get a chance to play with his son ?
I say Lebron hang them up at 39 and retire the GOAT regardless if he has the jewelry or not. His stats would only be rivaled by Wilt Chamberlain and he’ll he miles ahead of Kobe and Michael in points. Crazy the amount of hate Lebron gets.
Kyrie has insane value because of his offense but his defense is suspect. Offensively he’s greatness, if the Suns offer Jackson and Bledsoe take it. Cavs get defense and scoring, the Suns are probably more concerned about filling seats and Kyrie will do just that.
Does anybody else feel the reason why lebron wants Jackson is because when he leaves he won’t feel as bad?
Nah
I think it’s crazy people think Lebron is leaving. Why would he want to go to the West??? He has a clear path to finals for two more years at least.
The reasons the Suns should accept a Bledsoe and Jackson for Lebron is because they shed the Bledsoe contract who they benched last season for last 15 games or so to let the young guys play. Jackson’s ceiling is Kyrie esque. And if the Suns give Kyrie the keys he may stay. Kyrie is a household name from the last 3 years and people will watch the Suns just to see Kyrie
Because if he wins the west he wins the championship.
that makes no sense. why play the west 3 times to win the championship, when you only have to play them once to win it in the east?
Bledsoe and 2 first rounds works too
Not even close
Lebron all over the place. 1st he not involved now he involved. Whatever Cavs still taking an ASS Whipping again. GSW got better. Maybe Bron should stick to Basketball and let GMs Gm. Warriors set for next 2 years and laughing at James and the Cavs. Bledsoe likes the ball a lot also.
Who cares what ever they do DuBs win back to back !