There was a concerted effort in San Antonio last summer to acquire Kyrie Irving, when it became clear he wanted out of Cleveland.
The Spurs reportedly “tried really, really hard to get him.”
Interesting nugget from @wojespn on @notthefakeSVP about Kyrie just now. "San Antonio tried really really hard to get him."
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) January 4, 2018
In the end, the All-Star point guard ended up in Boston, where he continues to shine for the Celtics.
Per ESPN:
Perhaps it was, as Irving suggests, inevitable that he start searching for the next zenith. As [Byron] Scott says today, “Kyrie is one of those players who gets bored after a couple of years. He’s wired differently than most. He needs to be stimulated. He needs another adventure.”
Irving and his agent, Jeff Wechsler, sat down with [Dan] Gilbert on July 9 in The Vault at Quicken Loans Arena. In the meeting, they pressed Gilbert, sources say, about the future of James. Gilbert, in turn, asked Irving for desired trade destinations, and Wechsler rattled off San Antonio, New York and Minnesota.
Boston was not mentioned, but, league sources confirm, Gilbert later became keenly interested in securing the rights to Brooklyn’s 2018 first-round pick, which the Celtics had acquired in the 2013 trade that sent Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Nets. When Gilbert, who declined to be interviewed for this story, was presented with the Celtics as a trade partner for Irving, he went to LeBron [James] and tried to secure a pledge from his franchise player to remain beyond the 2017-18 season. James, team and league sources confirm, wouldn’t commit.
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