Prior to the start of the past season, Kyrie Irving pretty much shocked the whole world after demanding a trade out of the Cleveland Cavaliers, following yet another loss in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
Winning an NBA Championship, playing next to Kevin Love and LeBron James and making it to 3 straight Finals would be enough to keep any player in the world, well, any player in the world but Kyrie.
As a matter of fact, the All-Star point guard even threatened the team with having surgery and sitting out for the whole season if they didn’t trade him, as he was desperate to stop sharing the rock with James and was eager to become a team’s go-to-guy again.
Kyrie’s bet on himself truly paid off for both parties, as the Celtics gave away the Brooklyn Nets pick that wind up being the 8th overall pick this season, while Irving would have the chance of playing for one of the most exciting and promising teams in the NBA before suffering a season-ending injury.
This blockbuster trade really shook a lot of things in the league, but what if that move had never gone through? What if Kyrie was dealt to another team? There were at least 5 suitors keen to land him, and according to several reports, the Phoenix Suns were the closest to get him before Danny Ainge pulled the trigger.
A three-team deal was on the table to send Kyrie to the Suns and Paul George to the Cavaliers, as several insiders reported back then, but the move fell off as the Suns were unwilling to trade away their 4th overall pick, a pick they wind up using to land standout prospect Josh Jackson.
The supposed deal was supposed to get Kyrie and Frye to the Suns and Eric Bledsoe and Paul George to the Cavs, but what comes a surprise for this move is the fact that it was on the table one month before Irving requested a trade out of the Cavs.
Apparently, Irving was convinced the team didn’t want him on board and that LeBron James was behind this trade offer, and that’s what eventually forced his hand to request to be traded away from the Land.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were desperate to get Paul George the prior campaign and would even be willing to trade away Kevin Love to the Nuggets on a three-way deal to get him, and this kind of moves really disrupted Irving’s perception of the organization.
Now, Irving is dressed in green and white, George is likely to become a Laker and so is James, so we can’t help but wonder how this would have fared of, had this trade didn’t stall because of the Suns negative to part ways with their pick.
