Earlier today, news came down the wire stating that Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving had requested a trade in a meeting with team owner Dan Gilbert last week. Whether or not the former No. 1 overall pick will indeed be traded is still yet to be seen.
According to a report from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, like many others, Cavs superstar LeBron James was surprised when he heard the news of Irving’s request. Windy also stated that James intends to let the Cavs’ front office and ownership take the reigns in dealing with Irving’s trade pleas.
“Both the franchise and James were rocked when Irving asked the team to trade him last week,” Windhorst writes in his recent article. “James was informed after Irving told the Cavaliers and was unaware of the guard’s feelings, sources said.”
“The Cavs have three choices: Reject Irving’s plea and not trade him as he has two years (plus an option year) left on his contract; find a package of young players and draft picks; or find a deal for veteran players as they deal with the reality that James can be a free agent after the 2017-18 season.”
For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what Gilbert and assistant general manager Koby Altman, who have been manning the phone lines since David Griffin’s departure from the team, elect to do about this dilemma.