The Cleveland Cavaliers are coming off a blowout loss to the Washington Wizards on Sunday night and it has people talking. The Cavaliers played that game without LeBron James but there still seems to be some problems in Cleveland that might prevent them from winning the championship they desire. There have always been questions about the fit of their big three of LeBron, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love but Love has typically been the one on the outs. Now it seems as though Irving may be the one who wants out.
Smith says that he has been sitting on this news for months and that Irving does not feel his situation in Cleveland is good for him.
"Dating back to last year, I've been told that Kyrie Irving ain't too happy being in Cleveland. The situation is not ideal for him. I don't know the particulars, I haven't spoken to him personally. It's some things that I've been hearing for months, that under ideal circumstances he would prefer to be someplace other than Cleveland," said Smith.
This is not the first time that Irving has reportedly been unhappy playing in Cleveland. Before LeBron decided to come back to the Cavs there were reports that Kyrie was threatening to not re-sign with Cleveland. In the end though, Irving signed a max contract that would keep him in Cleveland through 2020.
Because of that contract situation the only way Irving could get out of Cleveland would be via trade. There would be plenty of suitors for the 23-year-old point guard but his star has faded a bit this season due to his lack of passing and lack of defense. It has been argued that the Cavaliers need much more from Irving if they want to be a championship team and that would decrease his value for any sort of trade.
To be clear this is just a rumor at this point as neither Irving nor the Cavaliers have said anything to corroborate this story but it wouldn't be a complete surprise if it was true. Irving wants to be a huge star and lead his own team but that can't happen when he is playing alongside LeBron. Don't forget LeBron has called out Irving before for his lack of passing and so far this season he is regularly getting beaten by opposing point guards. This is not the kind of news Cavs fans want to hear with the playoffs approaching but it is out there now and they will have to do some damage control to keep this quiet so expect to hear a lot of denials in the coming days.
