LeBron still looms over Kyrie career
KYRIE Irving wanted to get out of LeBron James’ shadow. Now he has gone right into the King’s line of fire.
Be careful what you wish for, Kyrie. Irving’s path to a fourth straight Finals now goes directly through northeast Ohio, where the wrath of LeBron, Cavaliers fans and other former teammates will lie in wait.
Instead of having James as his star wingman, Irving will turn to former Jazz forward Gordon Hayward, who has yet to play beyond the second round of a playoff series.
All things considered, the Cavaliers’ new general manager, Koby Altman, a native New Yorker, did well in this latesummer blockbuster.
Altman, who replaced David Griffin, exchanged Irving for Isaiah Thomas at point guard and added rugged defensive forward Jae Crowder, whom the Knicks craved. Crowder may look good in The Finals in June, attempting to physically disrupt the Warriors’ speedy juggernaut.
And that doesn’t even mention securing Boston’s rights to the Nets’ firstround pick, a probable lottery selection, in next June’s draft. Altman can either use that as a trade chip to add immediate help, or have a possible top-3 selection to brace for James’ potential free-agent departure next summer to the Lakers or, according to Blake Griffin’s imagination, the Knicks.
Boston was never on Irving’s original four-team wish list. In fact Western Conference clubs Minnesota and San Antonio reportedly made the cut — far away from James.
What the Knicks were doing on Irving’s four-team list was puzzling, despite his New Jersey roots. Anyone who thinks it’s a good idea to go from a club that advanced to three straight Finals to a team coming off four straight years out of the playoffs and rebuilding must also believe the world is flat. Oh yeah, Irving does. Reports from Irving’s camp are he’s “thrilled” about heading to Boston, but he would be happy anywhere but Cleveland. As was said about Kobe Bry- ant, James and his overbearing leadership dynamic can be wearing. Lou Amundson, after joining the Knicks from the Cavaliers, talked about James’ overpowering lockerroom influence — and not in the most flattering of ways.
Still, the diminutive Thomas should be excited having James to take the pressure off him amid the half-court playoff grind. During the playoffs, as Thomas battled following the death of his sister, James called him “a special talent, a special guy.’’
A Cavaliers point-guard tandem of Thomas and Derrick Rose actually may be as good as last season’s Irving-Deron Williams duo.
A tentative Williams stunk it up in The Finals. Rose, if he’s healthy, has no fear. There’s also renewed talk Dwyane Wade ultimately will get bought out by Chicago and join the new Cleveland show with his old Miami buddy, James.
No matter what, Irving will find out this spring it’s always better to be James’ teammate than his archenemy.