NBA Trade rumors: Kyrie Irving being pursued by several teams
The Cavaliers recently let go of David Griffin as their general manager, and it looks like him not budging on a Kyrie Irving deal may be the reason why.
In some shocking news on Monday that came out of seemingly nowhere, David Griffin was fired as the Cleveland Cavaliers’ general manager, just a few weeks after his team made it to the NBA Finals. Now, it appears Kyrie Irving may be one of the reasons he’s out of Cleveland.
There wasn’t much reason given for the release, and Adrian Wojnarowski had one source tell him that the team and Griffin “just couldn’t agree on future.”
While many were unsure what that exactly meant, considering Griffin’s relentless pursuit Monday afternoon of a deal for Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls, it looks like it may have been something else that broke the camel’s back. According to a tweet from Sam Amico of FOX Sports, Griffin was unwilling to move Irving when teams inquired about the star point guard, and that may have forced out the general manager.
FYI: Several teams have spoken to #Cavs about Kyrie Irving. Griffin was unwilling to move Kyrie. It's unclear where owner Dan Gilbert stands
— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) June 20, 2017
The Cavaliers have been looking to make some major moves in the offseason to compete with the Golden State Warriors out of the West, and it’s almost as if they’re looking to rebuild. Between the Butler rumors and the team’s pursuit of a rental of Indiana Pacers forward Paul George, they’re looking at all angles for a possible fix to their Warriors problem.
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Irving was incredibly hit-or-miss for the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, and it looks like the Cavaliers’ ownership may be putting some of the blame on Uncle Drew for their loss to the Warriors. He put up 38 and 40 points in Games 3 and 4, respectively, but shot just 9-for-22 in the series finale in Game 5.
It seems drastic for the Cavaliers to make a deal with Irving involved, but with the big names they’re looking to bring in for one final hoorah against the Warriors, they may need to move some serious cap room to give LeBron James some support on the court.