Will Lebron James leave Cleveland Again?

There is uncertainty in the Cavaliers organization on whether Lebron James will leave the organization again. After the 2017-2018 NBA season he will become a free agent. When we look at the league and the condition of the Cavaliers there are plenty of reasons on why he will stay in Cleveland and why he will leave Cleveland. The reasons for him staying is that with him wanting to win another championship the Cavaliers has brought a championship like roster since his return in 2014. With the recent trade of Kyrie Irving the team has brought Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and a 2018 first round draft pick from the Brooklyn Nets. Isaiah Thomas can produce a similar offense as Kyrie Irving and Jae Crowder is a good defender, which will help the team on the defensive end. This means the Cavaliers have improved on paper after this trade. The reason for him to leave is that the weather in Cleveland can get cold in the winter time, there was also talk about his family wanting to move to Los Angeles. There was also talk about the banana boat reunion, which consists of him alongside his three friends Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul. They are talking about these four players rejoining on a team. Lebron also delivered on his promise to the city of Cleveland about bringing a championship to the city. The people of Cleveland was upset at Lebron when he left the Cavaliers organization back in 2010 claiming he threw them on national television and broke a promise about bringing a championship to Cleveland. Now Lebron James does not owe them anything, he promised a championship and they got a championship.

There is also uncertainty after the 2017-2018 season, Lebron James becomes a free agent, so does a few other star players. Isaiah Thomas becomes a free agent as well as Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Paul George and Dwyane Wade. This will create uncertainty on where players will go and the possible a formation of another super team from scratch. Due to the uncertainty after the 2017-2018 NBA season the question of Lebron James leaving Cleveland again remains uncertain and only time can tell us if he leaves Cleveland again or not. 

Kyrie Irving Traded

Kyrie Irving now is traded to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Jae Crowder, Isaiah Thomas, Ante Zizic and the rights to the Brooklyn Nets 2018 first round draft pick. The Kyrie Irving trade is a benefit to both teams. The Cleveland Cavaliers made one of the best moves for the first time after the controversial firing of David Griffin. This trade will likely help the Cleveland Cavaliers in the long term and it is also helping them prepare in the event that Lebron James decides to leave after his contract expires. This trade also benefits the Cavaliers in the short term due to the fact the Cavaliers are trying to figure out a way to beat the Golden State Warriors. When Kevin Durant joined the Warriors it created a team at a level above a super team. Jae Crowder can bring more help on the defense, since the Cavaliers were ranked pretty low in that regard last season. Isaiah Thomas is a great player averaging more than 20 points a game for the last two seasons. His level is about equal to Kyrie Irving's and also adding a another defensive player to the roster. As for the Boston Celtics this trade has the benefit of Kyrie Irving joining the roster. Danny Ainge is a great General Manager and is a long term thinker. A few years back he traded two star veterans for moderate players and first round draft picks. Now the Celtics have climb back up into a contender. They made a series of trades or free agent signings this offseason that got them several good players such as Gordon Hayward. As for Kyrie Irving he wanted to have more of a main role, and a like team the Boston Celtics might just be the right team for him. The Celtics are kind of like the Detroit Pistons from 2003 to 2008. During that run the Pistons were even a championship contender without having a big star player. With that kind of team it is now Kyrie's chance to be a star contender of that franchise. 

Why Kyrie Irving Should Not Be Upset at Lebron James

Recently there has been talk about Kyrie Irving wanting to be traded because he can no longer stand Lebron. He was promised by the Cleveland Cavaliers that he would be the leading face of the franchise back in 2014, so he signed a long term deal with the Cavs. Then Lebron decided to return to Cleveland and rejoin the Cavs after leaving the franchise for the Miami Heat back in 2010. The last three years Kyrie has been playing in the shadow of Lebron James and he no longer wants to do this, on top of it all there is uncertainty with Lebron James staying with the franchise after his contract expires next year.

The last three years when Kyrie Irving was playing with Lebron they made it to the NBA Finals three times and won one NBA championship. During the first NBA Finals Kyrie only played one game due to being injured during Game One. All that being said there is speculation that Kyrie Irving was mocking Lebron's I'm coming home statement recently after he came back. When Lebron decided to return to Cleveland he made a statement about coming home. After this Kyrie felt he was no longer the face of the franchise and Lebron James is now the face of the franchise. However if Lebron James had not return to Cleveland the team would have not likely made the NBA Finals if even the Playoffs. Kyrie would not have won an NBA Champion and have a championship ring right now.

Some people are comparing this to the feud that of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. We see back in the day when Shaq and Kobe had won three NBA Champions together while they were playing for Los Angeles Lakers and then there was a feud between the two. After that Shaq was traded to the Miami Heat and he won an NBA Championship with Dwyane Wade. When Shaq was traded to the Miami Heat the Lakers were in a struggle for a couple of years. Then the Lakers were back on top with Kobe winning two championships with Pau Gasol for both championships and Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace) for one of two.

No matter how the thing is sliced none of the two would have likely won as many championships as they did without the other. Of course the exception will be the other person did something so unreasonable and totally out of line that would result in a reasonable person to have hatred towards someone. From the news reports I do not see this to be the case with Kyrie and Lebron. What I see is one of them wants to be a face of a franchise and have a more leading role for a team. That was sacrificed to an extent and it resulted in being an NBA Champion. Kyrie is still considered one of the team's captains, with him, Lebron and Kevin Love they are considered the team's big three. He is still recognized as a star player and he still has a big role in the team. Winning NBA Championships is not a luxury that every player has, even star players and hall of famers such as Allen Iverson, Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, Charles Barkley, Chris Webber and Karl Malone to name a few, had never won an NBA champion in their playing career.