The Lebron James out of Cleveland narrative has just taken a massive twist. With the ongoing speculation he will opt out and become a free agent in 2018, now with the exit of a disgruntled Kyrie Irving could this be a positive for the Cavs?
Lebron has always been a leader and a huge ego in the locker room, rightly so. Reports that Kyrie is leaving due to trade bait discussions and with the Cavaliers picking up free agent and former MVP Derrick Rose, its a forgone conclusion his exit is close. This leads to two possible scenarios for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lebron takes this personally and sets his sights on a Championship without his sidekick, or he was always leaving in 2018 from the beginning.
SIGN UP
This could lead to Lebron James and his ego finishing his career in Cleveland. Lebron is not going to accept that he can’t make the NBA finals without Robin and have that be a trademark on his Name in the organization. So whilst in the short term the loss of Kyrie is devastating to the 2017 campaign at a title, pending on who they are able to trade for they still have the best player in the NBA and a man respected enough by every NBA free agent in an especially weak Eastern Conference come 2018.
The Cavalier front office should be doing everything in there power to plan for the above scenario and have Lebron ink a deal to attract talent from now!
BLOW UP
In the event Lebron is tentative to working out a deal to extend his career in Cleveland they may as well blow this team up and start again. The slightest sign his unwilling should be a deal breaker for coach Lue and the front office. The only way this ends well for Cleveland is if free agents and future trades are given the confidence and reassurance that Lebron James is committed to the franchise. Lebron should be traded with Kyrie or he walks for free next season in this scenario. If Lebron doesn’t ink a deal to extend, it will set the franchise back 3-4 seasons minimum to recover if he walks next summer. If I’m a Cavalier fan, that’s unacceptable. History cannot repeat itself and Lebron James has shown time and time again he’s prepared to always do whats best for Lebron.
