Cleveland Cavaliers: Looking back at the ALMOST trade that would’ve changed everything

Taking a look back at the ALMOST trade that could’ve saved the Cleveland Cavaliers a few years ago. 

We all know that the Cleveland Cavaliers finally have hope and can see the bright future for the first time since the end of the 2017-18 NBA season, but what if the breakup between Kyrie Irving and the Cavaliers played out differently?

Irving shocked the basketball world when he requested a trade in 2018, following another NBA Finals loss to Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. One would think that making three straight NBA Finals and winning one would keep a player happy, but not Kyrie. In fact, the star point guard was so desperate to leave LeBron James and the Cavaliers that he threatened not to play if he was on the Cavs roster.

Kyrie was eventually traded to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 first-round pick which turned into Collin Sexton.

A potentially better trade almost occurred though, which would send Kyrie Irving and Channing Frye to Phoenix and Paul George along with Eric Bledsoe to the Cavaliers, but the Suns did not want to trade the No. 4 overall pick, which is the only reason the trade did not occur.

This trade may have convinced LeBron to stay in Cleveland rather than going to Los Angeles. Furthermore, this trade may have prevented multiple years of pain for the Cavaliers franchise before their rise this season.

What do you think? Did the Cavs make the right choice? Would Paul George on the Cavaliers be better than Collin Sexton? And, furthermore, would have it been enough to keep LeBron from the bright lights of Los Angeles? At the very least, it’s an interesting hypothetical to think about.