With the Cleveland Cavaliers imploding and the Boston Celtics thriving, it’s easy to second-guess the Cavs’ trade of Kyrie Irving this past summer. But keeping the All-Star guard was likely never going to be viable for them.
According to a report by Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com on Thursday, Irving threatened to sit out the season and have knee surgery if the Cavs did not honor his trade request. Vardon adds that Irving convinced owner Dan Gilbert and the Cleveland front office that the relationship was “not salvageable.”
Irving, who would have been under contract with the Cavs for at least the next two seasons, had his trade request made public last July and was eventually traded to the Celtics in late August. If the former No. 1 overall pick did indeed threaten to sit out the entire 2017-18 season, it probably makes LeBron James look all the more unreasonable.
