The Cleveland Cavaliers know what heartbreak feels like and after losing LeBron James the team may be preparing itself for the same move again, as former number one pick Kyrie Irving could end up leaving the franchise eventually as a free agent, just like James did.
According to Bleacher Report, while Irving is not at that point yet, he could decide to leave like James did to win himself a championship. Cleveland drafted Irving with the number one overall pick to help replace James and after Irving won Rookie of the Year it was clear that he was a star in the marking. While rumors have him being unhappy there, all the word from Irving is that he wants to stay, but if the team doesn't add more talent, it could be history repeating itself all over again.
The team brought in Mike Brown to coach the team and while that was a solid move that could pay off, they need to work better in the draft to bring in more talented players, as it remains to be seen what Anthony Bennett will do. Apart from James and Irving the team has had a so-so record with top picks and they will need to change that to keep Irving. The team has young stars in Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters and Irving has put up great numbers, including 20.6 points, 5.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game at one point and the Cavs wants that long term.
Irving has said that he wants to stay in Cleveland and his talents have shown that he has the chance to be one of the best young players in the NBA. Irvin is currently playing with the US Team as he tries to make the national cut and so far during team workouts he has looked very good for coach Mike Krzyzewski and he could replace star LeBron James once again like he did in Cleveland, as James is now done playing for the national team.
Irving played last week during a scrimmage for his former Duke coach and scored 23 points and added seven assists to lead his squad to victory and his showing could be the first step to being one of the new members of the team. Irving looks ready to make the jump after playing for the 2012 USA Basketball Select Team that played against the Olympic team for training and this time around he had 16 points in the first half and looked sharp with the ball.
Krzyzewski has not made any decisions yet about the team that he will bring into the 2014 World Cup of Basketball in Spain, but young stars like Irving and Anthony Davis look like they will have the chance to play for their country as other stars depart the team in the future. Davis previously was on the gold-medal team and he scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the scrimmage with Irving. The point guard looked strong throughout the game and helped the team to a 21-3 run at one point before taking a lead into halftime.
On top of Irving, other stars include Jrue Holiday, DeAndre Jordan as well as Harrison Barnes and Derrick Favors. The team has plenty of young stars that could join Chris Paul and Kevin Durant as well as Kevin Love on the team and as international squads get stronger, the US will need to retool to keep their dominance internationally.