Per Windhorst: Kyrie asked to be traded last week

[celticsclay]

The longer this goes on probably the worse for the Cavs. Bledsoe and warren may be the best they can do

no its not

cavs should be able to get a ton back for Irving

Presumably he has torpedoed has value a bit by demanding the trade and then hurt it further by leaking he has 4 teams he has a preference for. Then you throw in the fact that Cleveland has no use for prospects that are not ready to contribute

[tarheelsxxiii]

Seems like Denver could be a dark horse in all this. They've got the right mix of roster pieces to make a trade work, they're trying to make the playoffs in a brutal West, and they'd allow Cleveland to get Irving out of conference (which seems like it does matter to teams, like it or not). I could see that resulting team being very interesting.

Kyrie may not want to go to Denver though. Despite the fact that he doesn't have a no-trade clause, agents run the NBA, and I don't see him getting traded to a team he doesn't want to play for.

In this case, he really shouldn't have his cake and eat it too. The agent has no leverage here, there is no contract/extension/option lingering. In fact, the agent doesn't even need to be in the loop. There was a time when players got traded without consent, believe it or not.

What's he really gonna do, hold out? Not report? Go ahead, throw away that guaranteed money, see how long that lasts.

He can't say "I want to leave, but only send me here, here, or there." That's not how this works.

Unfortunately nowadays, it is how it works though. I'm sure a large part of the trade destination is to increase Kyrie's marketing potential and make more money. That's why the Knicks are even on the list. Sure, the Cavs could trade him anywhere. Then he could mail it in playing for his new team and act like a jerk until they trade him for peanuts. More importantly, next time the Cavs want to sign a big name free agent or want to get in on a big trade, Kyrie's agent can easily ruin it for them. Agents run the league, Ainge knows this, which is why he has been so successful.

Hadn't thought about the role of agents, always considered the athletes control the league.

[Tr1boy]

The longer this goes on probably the worse for the Cavs. Bledsoe and warren may be the best they can do

no its not

cavs should be able to get a ton back for Irving

Presumably he has torpedoed has value a bit by demanding the trade and then hurt it further by leaking he has 4 teams he has a preference for. Then you throw in the fact that Cleveland has no use for prospects that are not ready to contribute

He doesn't have a no trade clause...he can be traded to any team... cavs should not give any respect to Irving for pulling this stunt

He could mess up the trade by not showing up/passing the physical.......i will give you that

But at the end of the day i think Irving will be happy to get away from "father figure" Lebron and be the alpha player for another team

[celticsclay]

The longer this goes on probably the worse for the Cavs. Bledsoe and warren may be the best they can do

no its not

cavs should be able to get a ton back for Irving

Presumably he has torpedoed has value a bit by demanding the trade and then hurt it further by leaking he has 4 teams he has a preference for. Then you throw in the fact that Cleveland has no use for prospects that are not ready to contribute

He doesn't have a no trade clause...he can be traded to any team... cavs should not give any respect to Irving for pulling this stunt

He could mess up the trade by not showing up/passing the physical.......i will give you that

But at the end of the day i think Irving will be happy to get away from "father figure" Lebron and be the alpha player for another team

While I think he is unlikely to hold out he also only has 2 years on his contract. A team not on his list can't be super confident he will resign there. So a team like Phoenix that may not even make the playoffs this year, are you really going to hit your team?

[SparzWizard]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20127818/nba-weeks-dysfunction-surrounding-kyrie-irving-trade-demand

"On the afternoon of June 30, the sides thought they had a deal. On a conference call between the teams, everyone tentatively agreed. George to the Cavs, Love to the Nuggets, Harris and other pieces to the Pacers, sources said.

Plans were put in place for a call to be arranged between George and Gilbert, an important step before the trade would become final, sources said. The front office began making other plans to complement George as free agency was about to begin.

But then Pritchard, who had been on the conference call when the deal was tentatively agreed to, sent the message that his team was backing out, sources said. There was no deal."


So...Paul George was a Cavaliers for probably a few minutes, but the coward Pritchard decided to back out. Pritchard making all sorts of excuses to save face.

[saltlover]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20127818/nba-weeks-dysfunction-surrounding-kyrie-irving-trade-demand

"On the afternoon of June 30, the sides thought they had a deal. On a conference call between the teams, everyone tentatively agreed. George to the Cavs, Love to the Nuggets, Harris and other pieces to the Pacers, sources said.

Plans were put in place for a call to be arranged between George and Gilbert, an important step before the trade would become final, sources said. The front office began making other plans to complement George as free agency was about to begin.

But then Pritchard, who had been on the conference call when the deal was tentatively agreed to, sent the message that his team was backing out, sources said. There was no deal."


So...Paul George was a Cavaliers for probably a few minutes, but the coward Pritchard decided to back out. Pritchard making all sorts of excuses to save face.

This story makes very little sense, as it would require the Pacers to have backed out of the widely reported George deal with OKC, which was announced on June 22nd.  Possible, sure, but I don't buy it myself.

EDIT: I'm tired.  Butler was traded draft night, George was indeed announced to OKC on the 30th.  Got my NBA special broadcast confused.

[Moranis]

Man Pritchard really dropped the ball. 

According to that ESPN article, on draft night Cleveland was willing to trade Love to Denver for Harris and 13 (and other pieces), which would have gone to Indiana for George.  It fell through because Indiana was in serious discussions with Portland to trade George there for a package that included 3 first round picks (presumably the Blazers 3 picks in the draft).  Then after the draft, Cleveland, Denver, and Indiana kept talking and had that conference call on the 30th where at least Harris was still on the table.  George and Gilbert even scheduled a call to discuss the particulars (presumably George's feelings on staying long term) and the Cavs began planning free agency with the notion that they would have George and not Love.  Then Pritchard backed out to take the deal with OKC. 

Indiana totally botched the George trade as either trade on draft night would have been better for the Pacers long term.  Heck just acquiring Love for George was probably a better long term move then just Oladipo and Sabonis.  And that doesn't even include what Indiana could have gotten from Boston (Crowder, Smart, Rozier, 2018 1st, etc.). 

I can't believe Pritchard still has his job.

[green_bballers13]

While Kyrie certainly is a top 20 player in the NBA (and a top 5 PG), I think there are better fits for CLE. Another shut down wing and a big man would help CLE more than Kyrie (in my opinion), as Lebron is a ball dominant player.

MJ never had a great PG, but he did have good complementary players that did their job well without the ball.

Players that should interest Lebron:

-AD
-Cousins
-Klay Thompson
-Gasol (either)
-Carmelo
-Gobert
-Whiteside
-Middleton
-Derozan
-Crowder
-Reddick

Obviously not a conclusive list, and some of these players would have an issue moving, but I think they could all help Cleveland.

[No Nickname]

Man Pritchard really dropped the ball. 

According to that ESPN article, on draft night Cleveland was willing to trade Love to Denver for Harris and 13 (and other pieces), which would have gone to Indiana for George.  It fell through because Indiana was in serious discussions with Portland to trade George there for a package that included 3 first round picks (presumably the Blazers 3 picks in the draft).  Then after the draft, Cleveland, Denver, and Indiana kept talking and had that conference call on the 30th where at least Harris was still on the table.  George and Gilbert even scheduled a call to discuss the particulars (presumably George's feelings on staying long term) and the Cavs began planning free agency with the notion that they would have George and not Love.  Then Pritchard backed out to take the deal with OKC. 

Indiana totally botched the George trade as either trade on draft night would have been better for the Pacers long term.  Heck just acquiring Love for George was probably a better long term move then just Oladipo and Sabonis.  And that doesn't even include what Indiana could have gotten from Boston (Crowder, Smart, Rozier, 2018 1st, etc.). 

I can't believe Pritchard still has his job.

I agree but with one caveat.  He has an owner to report to.  If the owner said at the last minute, "I don't want George traded to an Eastern Conference team" well what do you do? 

You do what your boss says and you don't tell the press "I wanted to trade him for Kevin Love or Gary Harris and the #13 pick but my boss wouldn't let me."

[Moranis]

Man Pritchard really dropped the ball.  Harris and 13 (and other pieces), which would have gone to Indiana for George.  It fell through because Indiana was in serious discussions with Portland to trade George there for a package that included 3 first round picks (presumably the Blazers 3 picks in the draft).  Then after the draft, Cleveland, Denver, and Indiana kept talking and had that conference call on the 30th where at least Harris was still on the table.  George and Gilbert even scheduled a call to discuss

According to that ESPN article, on draft night Cleveland was willing to trade Love to Denver for the particulars (presumably George's feelings on staying long term) and the Cavs began planning free agency with the notion that they would have George and not Love.  Then Pritchard backed out to take the deal with OKC. 

Indiana totally botched the George trade as either trade on draft night would have been better for the Pacers long term.  Heck just acquiring Love for George was probably a better long term move then just Oladipo and Sabonis.  And that doesn't even include what Indiana could have gotten from Boston (Crowder, Smart, Rozier, 2018 1st, etc.). 

I can't believe Pritchard still has his job.

I agree but with one caveat.  He has an owner to report to.  If the owner said at the last minute, "I don't want George traded to an Eastern Conference team" well what do you do? 

You do what your boss says and you don't tell the press "I wanted to trade him for Kevin Love or Gary Harris and the #13 pick but my boss wouldn't let me."

If that is the directive then you don't bother even engaging a team from the East though.  Why waste everyone's time?  It just doesn't make sense.

[Granath]

Kyrie Irving: 5 star physical skills, 1 star mental skills