LeBron James is no doubt annoyed the Cleveland Cavaliers have the NBA’s second-worst defense. He’s definitely frustrated they’ve lost 10 of their past 12 games. He can’t feel good about how close they are to dropping out of third place in the Eastern Conference.
But, more than he’s ticked off at any of the aforementioned wrinkles, he’s still mad the Cavaliers never completed trades over the offseason that would have net Eric Bledsoe and Paul George.
ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst relayed this tidbit while speaking on the latest episode of The Lowe Post (via Erik Gundersen of the LeBron Wire):
“If you want to know what’s really pissing LeBron off, he felt like the Cavs could have had Paul George and Eric Bledsoe,” Windhorst said.
Windhorst added that LeBron believed they could add both players.
This must make Isaiah Thomas feel so special. Ditto for Kevin Love.
George, if you remember, was almost a Cav. The Indiana Pacers backed out of a three-team deal with the Denver Nuggets that would have net them Gary Harris while sending Kevin Love to the Mile High City. And LeBron, in turn, isn’t off-base when believing Cleveland could have also secured Bledsoe. The Phoenix Suns were a fixture in Kyrie Irving trade negotiations, and the Cavaliers might have been able to find a workable deal if they played hardball until the Suns gave up Josh Jackson, or if they searched harder for third and fourth teams to facilitate the blockbuster.
Alas, the Cavaliers ended up with neither Bledsoe nor George. And now, it seems, they’re on the verge of a full-blown implosion—something that dealing for George Hill won’t cure on its own. Should LeBron leave in free agency, Cleveland’s bad luck—or inability—on the offseason trade market could be viewed as the primary reason why.
