It appears as though Kyrie Irving’s time in Cleveland is coming to an end. News broke on Friday that the superstar point guard had requested a trade from the Cavaliers, potentially in hopes of leading his own team outside of LeBron James’ shadow.
Meanwhile, James’ own future in Cleveland is under question as reports have surfaced that the star forward could be leaving the Cavaliers for the second time as a free agent in 2018.
Adding more fuel to the fire, James will reportedly not be involved in the Cavaliers’ pursuit of an Irving trade, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst:
LeBron James intends to let the Cleveland Cavaliers front office and owner Dan Gilbert take the lead in dealing with Kyrie Irving’s trade demands, sources told ESPN.
As the Cavs consider their options, sources said James has expressed to the team that he is focused on his offseason workout regimen and is planning to report to training camp with the intention of leading his teammates to a fourth consecutive Finals — no matter who those teammates are.
James is known for being somewhat of a domineering figure, having a lot of influence on roster construction especially in his second stint with the Cavaliers.
No one can truly know what LeBron is thinking and what his motivation for staying away from the talks is. But a lack of interest in how the franchise handles trading its second best player should scare Cavs’ fans as potential evidence that LeBron will look to jump ship soon, himself.
