Kyrie Irving’s trade request was a surprise to many people around the league, including Irving’s teammate Richard Jefferson. Jefferson, who hosts the Road Trippin podcast with Channing Frye, on LeBron James’ Uninterrupted network, learned about Irving’s trade request while recording his podcast.
Here is Jefferson’s take on the trade request:
“This is what I will say about this, and by the time this gets out, whenever we air this in a few days: I don’t know. I don’t think that there’s a power struggle, like, with LeBron and Kyrie, Kev. I think Kyrie is a hyper-intelligent kid. Really, really smart. Doesn’t get enough credit for how smart he is, and I think seeing that the franchise is in flux, seeing Griff(GM David Griffin) leave, the amount of coaches . . .
I think Kyrie has had a much tougher time in this stretch of the organization than anyone ever wanted to ever really fully- he’s the number one pick right after LeBron, then he has three different coaches, then LeBron comes back, now there’s trade rumors, now its ‘LeBron’s leaving’.
It’s like, at some point in time, anybody would want some sort of stability. Even if it’s the unknown, and I’m not saying – I don’t know if he asked to be traded, I don’t know this. But I will say that he’s had a tougher time if you look at, from start to where we are right now, of the ups and downs of a franchise more than most. Even though we’ve been successful, and even though we’ve won a championship and he’s been an All-Star, there’s still a so much of a wave, and to be like ‘Yo, we’re going to sit here for a whole year on whether or not LeBron’s coming back.’ That’s gotta be tough on anybody, everybody.”
If LeBron James leaves Cleveland, the organization would be in transition. You can’t blame Irving for not wanting to be apart of another rebuild in Cleveland. Plus, if Irving wants to be the top dog, he can’t be that in Cleveland as long as LeBron is there.
Is Irving using whatever power he may have to find the perfect situation for his career? Does Irving no something about LeBron’s future?
Whatever it is, the Cavaliers will probably look a little different next season.
