When LeBron James announced his decision to sign with the Cavaliers in 2014, he wrote in his Sports Illustrated letter:
The absence of Andrew Wiggins – whom Cleveland had drafted No. 1 overall just a couple weeks prior – stood out. That was particularly true because it had already been reported the Cavaliers would try to trade for Kevin Love if they signed LeBron.
Did LeBron know the Cavs would deal Wiggins in the Love trade (which they of course eventually did)? Why else would LeBron omit him?
LeBron, via Michael Lee of Yahoo Sports:
I mean, that’s certainly plausible.
LeBron definitely had longstanding relationships with Irving and Thompson. And Waiters said LeBron called him before the announcement and hinted at signing with Cleveland, which I don’t think LeBron would’ve done unless he already knew Waiters enough to trust him.
But it’s not as if Wiggins were a complete stranger to LeBron.
Wiggins played in front of LeBron at LeBron’s camp in 2012:
James Herbert of CBSSports.com:
Considering LeBron’s interest in acquiring Love, I’m still not completely sold LeBron left Wiggins out of the article simply because they didn’t know each other. There’s still a solid chance LeBron knew Cleveland’s plans – and that those might include trading Wiggins.
If that were the case, LeBron obviously would’ve been right.
