The Cleveland Cavaliers-Chicago Bulls blockbuster trade that was being discussed earlier this week was reportedly called off after Jimmy Butler told the Bulls that he wanted to stay with the team. Later that day, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that several Cavs players warned Jimmy Butler to stay away from the current dysfunction brought on by owner Dan Gilbert within the past week.
Yesterday, ESPN’s Dan Le Batard shared a story about how LeBron once blocked Pau Gasol from joining the Heat while he was leaving Miami and how the Cavs superstar may be doing the same with Butler and Cleveland.
One of the reasons he was that angry is because while he was trying to get information from LeBron, on vacation, where he’s sending him texts, ‘Rank these free agents 1-5 in terms of how you like them … Josh McRoberts, Danny Granger … he not only was not getting any responses back, the Miami Heat felt that LeBron James was playing defense against them getting Pau Gasol, for example. Riley thought he had Pau Gasol locked up and that LeBron was being cryptic with Pau by text and that spooked Pau Gasol.”
“And that’s something that bears watching right now with LeBron James,” Le Batard continued. “If he’s already decided that he’s checked out, he would do things like tell Jimmy Butler, ‘Hey don’t go there. You’re gonna get stuck there for many years. He would do stuff that would prevent them from being good right away if he’s already decided that he’s leaving.”
It’s hard to say where LeBron’s head is at right now but it’s clear that he’s unwilling to commit to more than one more year in Cleveland which seems to be spooking superstar free agents Paul George and Jimmy Butler from joining the team.
h/t The Big Lead