Things haven't been going as smoothly as planned for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season and a new report by Jason Lloyd of The Athletic reveals even more behind the scenes issues between the Cavs front office and their All-Star forward, LeBron James.
According to Jason Lloyd, "James cursed toward at least two team executives" during a heated meeting in late January in which several players questioned the legitimacy of Kevin Love's illness.
Additionally, Lloyd says the Cavs "have been noticeably pivoting away from James' recommendations" since the offseason, including when they opted to negotiate the Kyrie Irving trade without consulting their franchise star. According to the report, LeBron wanted them to keep Kyrie Irving around for training camp before considering any moves, but they dealt him to Boston anyway.
LeBron has "no relationship" with Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, or the team's GM Koby Altman, according to Lloyd.
Despite all of the drama coming out of Cleveland and the Cavs' struggles as of late, the team is still sitting in third place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 30-21. Of course, that's still below LeBron James' standards and where the Cavs had envisioned themselves heading into the All-Star break.
Meanwhile, the Cavs front office has reportedly been looking to acquire Los Angeles Clippers' center DeAndre Jordan before the February 8th trade deadline. According to USA Today's Sam Amick and Jeff Zillgitt, Koby Altman is willing to trade Cleveland's own first round pick in a deal for Jordan, so long as the Clippers take on some "unwanted" contracts, including Tristan Thompson (two years, $36 million remaining) and J.R. Smith ($14.7 million next season, team option worth $15.6 million in 2019-20 with $3.8 million guaranteed). As of now, it doesn't appear the Clips are too intrigued by that offer.