Cavaliers star Irving reportedly requests trade
CL E V EL A ND poi nt g ua rd Kyrie Ir v ing has requested a t r ade, s hock i ng Cav a l ier s superstar LeBron James, US media reported on Friday.
E SPN, c it i n g u n n a med sou rces, f i rst repor ted t hat t he Austra lia-born US point guard told team owner Dan Gi lber t la st week t hat he wanted to be traded.
Clevela nd.com t hen cited t wo sou rces a s say i ng t he 25-yea r-old Ir v i ng told Gi lber t he wa nted to esc ape Ja mes’s shadow a nd be t he foca l point of a team.
The news comes shortly after Irving told Sports Illustrated that the Cavaliers were “in a peculiar place” in the wake of their NBA Finals loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Since then, the Cavs’ have endu red a n awk wa rd of fseason.
No replacement has been named for genera l manager David Griffin, who departed when the t wo sides failed to reach a contract extension.
James has reportedly voiced concer n about t he tea m’s f ut ure, f uel l i ng specu lat ion that he might leave his hometown club a second time. He famously departed in 2010 for Miami, won two titles and led t he Heat to four f inals in four yea rs, t hen ret ur ned to t he Cavaliers.
Ir ving’s agent, Jeff Wechsler, did not specifica lly confirm a trade request in comments to Cleveland.com.
“We met with Cavs’ leadership and we discussed many di f ferent scena r ios i n reference to Kyrie and his future w it h t he tea m,” Wechsler said. “There were a bunch of scenarios, and I’m not going to discuss any thing that was said. I don’t k now where this is coming from.”
Ir v ing was t he top overa l l NBA Draft pick in 2011 after one season play ing at Duke Universit y.
Clevela nd recorded losing records in his f irst t hree seasons before James returned.
The Cavs reached the NBA Fina ls each of t he past t hree seasons, fa l l i ng to t he Warriors in 2015, beating t hem in 2016 a nd su r render i ng t he tit le to t hem in June.
Ir v ing has three years and $ 60 million remaining on his contract.
He can opt out of the final year prior to the 2019-20 season, while James could opt out after next season.