The Cleveland Cavaliers know changes must be made in order to narrow the gap with the Golden State Warriors, and the Cavs reportedly were very close to making that happen.
Days before this year’s NBA draft, Cleveland allegedly was on the verge of acquiring Paul George in a three-team deal with the Indiana Pacers and Denver Nuggets. In the reported blockbuster, Kevin Love would be sent to Denver, while Indiana would bring in a package of players including Gary Harris.
But just before the reported trade was going to be made official, Pacers general manager Kevin Pritchard informed the other two teams that his club was backing out. Indiana ultimately shipped George to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis.
Bringing in George would have been a monumental get for Cleveland, and Cavs owner Dan Gilbert appears to still be bitter that the trade didn’t go down.
While the reported three-team deal apparently was the closest Cleveland got to acquiring George, it wasn’t the first stab it took at trading for the star forward. Earlier in the offseason, the Cavs reportedly dangled Kyrie Irving in trade talks with the Pacers and Chicago Bulls, which allegedly ticked off the star point guard.
Irving ultimately wasn’t included in a deal for George, but it wouldn’t be shocking to see him involved in a future trade. The four-time NBA All-Star reportedly has requested to be traded from the Cavs and even has a short list of desired landing spots in mind.
Thumbnail photo via David Richard/USA TODAY Sports Images
