WFNY Roundtable: The Kipnis Contract
April 4, 2014Kyrie Irving takes to Twitter to defend himself against reports
April 5, 2014Brian Windhorst has no shortage of interesting things to say about the Cavaliers. He has so much to say that I had trouble even figuring out just one thing to put here. There’s talk of dinner meetings with Isiah Thomas that has the potential to make Cavs fans hurl. There’s talk about whether it’s worth it to extend Tristan Thompson. Most notably there’s lots and lots of disappointed talk about an “immature” Kyrie Irving. Most notably though, the former Cavs beat writer says that if the Cavs have any designs on LeBron James spending any part of his remaining career in Cleveland that future won’t include Kyrie Irving.
I’m just giving you my feel right now and my feel is that (Kyrie’s) not crazy about [signing the full max extension] unless he gets everything checked off across the board.
And the other thing is: if the Cavs ever dream of having LeBron, it’s not going to be with Kyrie there. LeBron and Kyrie have drifted apart in the last few years, even to the point that if the Cavs wanted to get LeBron they would maybe trade Kyrie for someone who would fit better with LeBron. And I’m not making that up. That line of thinking was not originated by me. That’s just the truth.
And here I think most Cavaliers fans who have ever spent even small moments thinking about the possibility of LeBron returning assumed that it would take a running mate like Kyrie Irving to make the situation more attractive. Granted any dreams of LeBron returning seemed a lot more feasible (even remotely) before the Cavaliers had such a disappointing season this year.
It just gets further and further down a road where it seems like the pain and suffering of Cavaliers over the past few years was all for nothing. Yes, there seems to be some talent on this team, but if that talent doesn’t translate to team success, isn’t it just wasted talent?
Even worse than wasted talent is the by-product for Cavs fans. That’s a whole lot of wasted time.
(Photo: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports)
23 Comments
I think we are currently building the Cavs to compete and get better, not trying to build them so Lebum can come back. Media just likes to talk about things like this instead of the few teams that are scrapping for the playoffs, because in the NBA, OVER HALF the teams make the playoffs. I would love for Durant to come to CLE, but I am not holding my breath.
good – F Lebron. I still hope he gets hit by a bus and never comes back.
Don’t hold back, tell us how you really feel
This interview with Windy definitely shocked me initially, but I also feel like I’m having trouble wrapping my head around what his logic is…
He’s the best player in the league and despite whether you like him or not, LeBron left here in the most jerkish way possible. The way Windy talks is almost to say “why wouldn’t Cleveland choose a returning LBJ over a spoiled Kyrie?” … and that’s weird, right? That’s weird that that’s what Windy is almost trying to say?
LeBron already proved he wasn’t down with us. He already spurned us in the worst way possible. But I’m to be told it’s Kyrie that’s the problem if we want LBJ back? To compare Kyrie to LeBron (aside from basketball) is futile… Whether or not you say Kyrie has been saying and doing these immature things behind the scenes, he’s still on the Cavs. He’s playing well for the Cavs. And if you were to ask me or any other Clevelander about Kyrie’s attitude this year, this article’s description does not match up with what we’ve seen on the court. He can be an ornery 21-year old every once in a while, sure, but the kid seems to have embraced his team, his coach, and this city. You can blame him for the Grant firing all you want too, but we all know that you could have subtracted Kyrie totally from that equation leading up to the “front office change” and Grant still would have been fired.
I am not a conspiracy theorist by any means, but I would just like to say these facts which cannot be disputed: he’s an unbelievable good sports journalist, but we are still technically getting the opinion of a “HEAT CHECK” editor. Heat Check is telling Cavalier fans the most explosive stuff they’ve heard about their present star.
Again, not gonna say Windy has an agenda, but obviously most of his reporting and information will unsurprisingly come from his present assignment in Miami.
gotta love how BW uses 2010 as a weapon and basically is defending why he didn’t write about some of the articles he could have written (and still hasn’t written to this day as he magically went quiet about “stories he knew” once ESPN gave him that Miami gig).
BW was a great reporter to read, but he decided to use his knowledge as leverage to find himself a better job. That is perfectly within his right to do as a writer, but I refuse to call him a journalist after he went that route and have lost most of my respect for the man.
“Heat Check is telling Cavalier fans the most explosive stuff they’ve heard about their present star”
Windhorst, the guy who was on top of the Mike Brown hire well before anyone else, is still better plugged into the Cavaliers news scene than anyone currently covering the team.
I realy agree with you on this one. I have no doubts that Windhorst is plugged in and that his information is accurate. I can’t help but feel that he does or doesn’t release information based on when its profitable to him, rather than when its actual newsworthy. He really reminds me of Varys the master of whispers from GOT, you know what he says is true but you need to decipher WHY he telling you this truth. Not the best standard for someone who wants to be called “journalist”. Also I think he’s an eunuch.
Best headline I’ve seen all day!
Best headline I’ve seen all day!
LeBron: “If the Cavs wanted to get me, they would
maybe trade Kyrie for someone who would fit better with me. Like, trade him to the Heat for Dwayne Wade, and I’ll come up to Cleveland with him.”
Cavs: “Ok, the trade is done.”
LeBron: “Psyche! I’m staying in Miami with my new All-Star PG! Enjoy D-Wade’s busted knees, chumps!”
if you wouldn’t rather have LeBron thank Kyrie you’re either (1) not really a Cavs fan or (2) not at all a basketball fan.
I hate the way the kid left as much as anyone. But there is not a doubt in my mind that LeBron truly truly regrets it more than anyone else. And i think the fact that Windy is bringing stuff like this up is a good thing because he knows LeBron better than anyone, and would be in tune with this thinking.
I’m all for LeBron and another running-mate in 2015. Do you think the Cavs could sign Kyrie to a max-ish deal and then trade him for a top talent? i do.
against my better judgement, uptick.
He’d still win more championships then the Cavaliers!
not sure why all the Windy hate in 2010 or now. Still on top of things and way smarter than any NBA writer – hell, any sports writer – we have locally,
He sees from the Cavs what a bunch of us have talked about – games with total lack of effort and player responsibility. And if he’s right that Tristan and his agents expect a max contract for a one-dimensional effort player who hasn’t given consistent effort, no thanks. There’s many easily obtainable players who would give them what Tristan gives and more. Imagine how consistent his effort would be after getting a max contract.
Eh, I don’t think any of this is new news, other than the Isiah thing (god forbid.) TT should probably only be extended if he’ll take a deal like Andy’s last contract (not looking, but I think it was ~5 mill with somewhat less guaranteed.) He’s a work horse but won’t develop quickly.
Kyrie isn’t a perfect (or even good) match for Lebron. Not that there is any reason to think that he’d want to come back anyways. This is just the question that must be asked.
Kyrie’s attitude and lack of development are worrying. Also, the relative value of PG’s who aren’t elite with court vision, passing, or leadership makes his max contract a valuable trade piece, given that there is a team that will cough up less easy to replace pieces.
He doesn’t knock Dion because he’s seeing the same thing we are, a kid who’s hyper-competitive and rubs people the wrong way because of it. He seems to be maturing much more quickly than Kyrie and has improved over time.
This isn’t news; we’ve all thought about these issues…I just think Windy is just trying to warm (warn) people up to the idea of Kyrie leaving and having a different all-star next year.
I love Lebron’s talent, but I quit going to games because I wasn’t a fan of his personality. I felt great when he left but then we got the next worse thing. Another super talented guy but he doesn’t generate wins like Lebron. I can’t win with these Ohio teams.
Still a better journalist than “Skip Baelish”
I cant even read all the comments before becoming livid. All the expletives in the world to LeBron, Windy, and anyone else pumping this garbage “article”. LeBron is dead to me, and I hope, dead to all Clevelanders. He can crawl from Akron to Cleveland up 71 before I ever consider him a viable option for the Cavs. Literally. A 2 day hand and knee crawl.
Go ahead and tell me how you want a championship in Cleveland irregardless of selling our souls, and how Im ignoring practicality. I dont care. Lebron is the most un-Cleveland thing, yes, he is now a thing, and I despise it. Roll Tribe and Go Browns.
I’d say Lebron is the most Cleveland thing. A chance to bemoan our situation instead of pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps.
Im late but that was awesome.
Why would LeBron or any FA care what that Cavs did this year or last or anytime? Miami sucked before he signed there. He didn’t sign for what Miami did in the past but for what he thought they would do in the future with him. Add LeBron to today’s Cavs and tell me they wouldn’t run Miami off the court 90 out of 100 times.
Yep, Windy was a huge loss for the PD and Cleveland. He’s one of the national best reporters in the biz. The fact that the PD picked MSB and Jodie Valade (who?) to replace him makes the void even bigger. I do like Jason Lloyd, though.
Luckily, Brian was wrong on a lot of what he said. That seems like a common theme lately with him.