It’s safe to say that the Cleveland Cavaliers will no longer be contenders if LeBron James skips town at season’s end, and owner Dan Gilbert knows it.
According to Jason Lloyd of the Athletic, Gilbert has been “fixated” on James’s future. That was indicated in the Kyrie Irving trade, as the Cavaliers reportedly made clear that they had to be ready just in case James departs the team at season’s end, and that the deal could have looked a lot different had the Cavaliers received assurances from James that he would extend his stay.
To that point, Lloyd reports that Isaiah Thomas was never the focal point of trade talks.
We know that the Cavaliers tried very hard to get one of Boston’s so-called “top prospects” in the Irving deal. They failed, and remain ill-prepared for a future without James. Then again, who wouldn’t be?
