Report: Cavaliers could hold off on trading Andrew Bynum if Kyrie Irving’s injury is serious

The Cavaliers and Lakers are reportedly discussing a trade that would send Pau Gasol to the Cavs, and Andrew Bynum would go back to Los Angeles. The Lakers would waive Bynum, and the deal would be strictly financial, but the Cavaliers would hope that Gasol could give them a big enough boost to make the playoffs.

Well, Kyrie Irving injured his knee in Tuesday night’s game against the Pacers, and according to ESPN, that changes everything:

"The Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers continued discussions Tuesday on a deal centered around former teammates Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, but sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that the outcome of Kyrie Irving’s forthcoming MRI exam is likely to have a big impact on how the talks proceed from here.Irving told reporters Tuesday night that he felt a “pop” in his left knee after suffering the injury during Cleveland’s loss to the Indiana Pacers. Irving was initially cleared to return to the game after he went down in the third quarter, but he confessed afterward that the knee felt weak as he played on in the fourth quarter. An MRI is scheduled for Wednesday.If Irving is out for a substantial length of time, it’s believed that the Cavaliers’ appetite to take on additional salary in pursuit of a playoff push would inevitably be diminished"

This could very well be a torn ACL for Irving, so the chance that this deal happens is getting slim. Hopefully, Irving didn’t tear his ACL, and I think the NBA has suffered enough injuries this season.

I don’t see the Lakers making a move that would bring them back any salary, and the chances of them making moves is very small. This situation will have to get done soon, as Bynum’s contract is fully guaranteed after January 7th.