Los Angeles Lakers: Imagining a Kyrie Irving and LeBron James reunion
By Tony Pesta
How should Cleveland react
Fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers would understandably be upset to see this happen. Kyrie Irving and LeBron James could have easily both remained in Cleveland if they were planning on reuniting anyway. The fact that these issues couldn’t be resolved while playing in a Cavs uniform would always haunt the city of Cleveland.
However, the blame for this situation should be placed on Cleveland’s front office rather than James and Irving. Regardless of whether or not Irving requested a trade, there was no one forcing the Cavaliers to trade Kyrie as quickly as they did.
There have been multiple other franchises that have had star players ask to be traded. The most competent franchises will either keep that player and resolve the issue, or wait for the right deal before making a trade. For example, the Lakers chose to keep Kobe Bryant in 2007 despite his request to be traded. Los Angeles went on to win two more championships with Bryant.
More recently, the San Antonio Spurs waited an entire season before trading Kawhi Leonard. Despite reportedly wanting to be traded to an L.A.-based team, the Spurs sent Leonard to the Toronto Raptors because that was the deal that made the most sense for San Antonio. Head coach Gregg Popovich reiterated the importance of not caving in during these situations in a recent conversation with the general manager of the New Orleans Pelicans, Dell Demps.
These examples help prove that the Cleveland front office handled Irving’s situation poorly. The Cavs rushed their decision to trade Kyrie and did not receive a worth package in return. Worst of all, they wasted any chance of being home to a reunion by failing to re-sign James in the 2018 offseason.
It would be bittersweet to watch Irving and James team up in Los Angeles, but Cavalier fans should not blame either of them. The fallout between James and Irving could have potentially been prevented had their front office handled it better.