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When Kyrie Irving requested a trade from the Cavaliers there were some that suggested Cleveland ignore his request and force him to return to the team. Dan Gilbert said initially that the plan was to have Irving at training camp and that was LeBron’s reported preference as well.

However, things changed quickly and as we know now, the Cavs pulled the trigger on a deal to ship their All-Star point guard to Boston in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and the 2018 Brooklyn first round pick. The Celtics offer was the best they could get at the time, although there were reportedly better options available prior to the draft that could have possibly netted them Paul George and Eric Bledsoe.

If Cleveland’s first instinct was to try to make things work, the question has been what happened to change that hope prior to training camp. According to a report from Joe Vardon of cleveland.com, the change was when Irving threatened to shut it down for the season if he weren’t dealt.

According to Vardon, Irving threatened to have surgery on his knee that would help him reduce swelling as a follow-up to a procedure he had done in the summer of 2015. Irving reportedly told the Cavs that he would skip training camp and have the procedure during the season, forcing the Cavs to be without a point guard at all.

According to multiple sources, Irving threatened to sit out the season and have surgery on his knee, convincing Gilbert and Cleveland’s front office that the relationship with Irving was not salvageable.

Such a procedure is typically done in the offseason; but he threatened to not come to training camp and then have the procedure during the season, leaving the Cavs without a point guard.

 

READ MORE: Uproxx.com

Article Courtesy of Uproxx

First Picture Courtesy of Harry How and Getty Images

Second Picture Courtesy of Robert Laberge and Getty Images

REPORT: Kyrie Irving Was Planning to Sit Out Games If He Was Not Traded  was originally published on wzakcleveland.com

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