Brian Windhorst: Kyrie Irving doesn’t want to be in Cleveland, that should impact contract extension talks

The NBA’s elite young players always take the first extension to your rookie contract.

Cleveland will offer one this summer and Kyrie Irving will sign it. He’s making $5.6 million this year, the first year of his extension will be north of $14 million (we don’t know the exact figures, it would be 25 percent of the salary cap that year). You sign that deal because it is “set your family up for generations” money. Everyone signs it — LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard and maybe next Kevin Love forced their way out of situations, but they signed that extension and played a few more years under it first.

However, don’t mistake that with Kyrie Irving being happy in Cleveland — which means he may ask for an opt-out after three seasons (as LeBron did in Cleveland, just to point out the scar).

Brian Windhorst of ESPN — who covered LeBron and the Cavaliers for the Plain Dealer and still is well connected there — was bunt about the Irving situation in a conversation with Robert Attenweiler of Cavs the Blog (you should go read the entire post):

The truth is [Kyrie’s] camp has been putting out there for years – years – that he doesn’t want to be in Cleveland. That they don’t want him in Cleveland. He doesn’t like Mike Brown. He didn’t like Chris Grant. He doesn’t like Dion Waiters. He’s already gotten a General Manager fired. He might get Mike Brown fired. This is the last time – once he signs he loses all of his leverage – so this is the last time he gets to enact leverage. I know he’s said all the right things so, fine, on July 1, when they offer a max contract – which they will – and I don’t even know if he’s a max player, but you have to sign him – sign a five year, no out. That’s what a max contract is. A max contract is five years, no out. If you want out or you want three years, that’s not a max contract. You want three years? Okay, we’ll give you $12 million a year. We’re not giving you the full thing….

I think this is very elementary from Dan Gilbert’s perspective. If Kyrie wants to play for Team USA, he’s going to have to do his deal before mid-July when he goes to play for it and he’ll either take the five years or he won’t. If the answer is “no” to five years, he goes on the trade block. Period. I think it’s pretty simple.

About that LeBron James pipe dream that some in Cleveland cling to…

And the other thing is: if the Cavs ever dream of having LeBron, it’s not going to be with Kyrie there. LeBron and Kyrie have drifted apart in the last few years, even to the point that if the Cavs wanted to get LeBron they would maybe trade Kyrie for someone who would fit better with LeBron. And I’m not making that up. That line of thinking was not originated by me. That’s just the truth.

LeBron is not coming back to Cleveland this summer. Whatever happens in Miami he’s not going anywhere. Maybe LeBron comes back to Cleveland to finish out his career, maybe, but that doesn’t happen now.

Windhorst is up front in this conversation, calling Irving an immature 21-year-old and Waiters an immature 22-year-old, two guys who could try to figure out how to play together but instead are in a silly competition with one another.

Cleveland needs a strong hand to steer the ship at this point, to set a direction for what kind of team they are trying to build and what kind of players they need to do it. A guy who can keep the owner at arms length from basketball decisions. A guy that can get Irving’s attention and guide him down the right path. A guy like what Phil Jackson wants to do for the Knicks.

I’m not sure that guy exists, but Windhorst is making public what a lot of people around the league have said about the Cavs for a while. They are not just bad on the court.