Windhorst: LeBron upset Cavs didn't land George, Bledsoe
With the vultures circling over the almost-carcass that is the season of the Cleveland Cavaliers, now comes a report LeBronJames is upset with team management.
ESPN's Brian Windhorst, appearing on The Lowe Post podcast with ESPN's Zach Lowe, said James knew the Cavaliers had opportunities to land both PaulGeorge and EricBledsoe and was upset when both players ending up going elsewhere.
“I’m sure if [Cavaliers owner] DanGilbert would ever speak freely, he probably never will, but he would say, ‘Well, I needed LeBron to commit past this year if I was going to trade, and LeBron wouldn’t commit, so therefore it’s LeBron’s fault this didn’t happen,'” Windhorst said.
Cleveland was on the precipice of landing George in a three-team deal just before the Pacers opted to instead ship him to Oklahoma City in early July
The deal the Cavaliers had on the table would have sent All-Star forward KevinLove to the Nuggets in exchange for guard GaryHarris and the No. 13 pick in the draft, which Cleveland would then have sent to Indiana for George.
However, Pacers president KevinPritchard called off the deal at the 11th hour, reportedly even after George had spoken with Gilbert on the telephone.
Cleveland was also supposed in on Bledsoe, a summer workout partner of James and shares the same agent, RichPaul.
However, the Suns chose to send Bledsoe to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for seldom-used post player GregMonroe and two draft picks.
Windhorst said James remains upset.
“Everybody’s going to have their own story," Windhorst said. "I’m just telling you that LeBron is there and he’s like, ‘We could have had Eric Bledsoe and Paul George, and instead, we have a draft pick who I’m never going to meet [Brooklyn’s unprotected first-rounder]...
"'Well, I don’t know about that, but I’m not meeting him this year — we have IsaiahThomas, who is very clearly hampered and we have Jae Crowder, who’s having the worst year of his career.'"
Cleveland (27-19) hosts Indiana (26-22) on Friday night at Quicken Loans Arena. While the Cavaliers sit third in the Eastern Conference standings behind Boston and Toronto, they are only two games ahead of the Pacers, who reside in the sixth spot.
