What Kyrie Wants: A stable environment to thrive

I think Kyrie is a hyper-intelligent kid. Really, really smart. Doesn’t get enough credit for how smart he is. And I think seeing that the franchise is in flux, I think seeing Griff leave and the amount of coaches. I think Kyrie has had a much tougher time in this stretch of the organization than anyone really ever wanted to fully — He’s a No. 1 pick right after LeBron. Then he has three different coaches. Then LeBron comes back. Now, there’s trade rumors. Now, it’s LeBron leaving.

--Richard Jefferson

 Fear the Sword goes into more depth regarding the environment Kyrie escaped from:

• The team lost approximately 94 games in a row the year James left.
• After Kyrie Irving’s sensational rookie season, the team drafted Dion Waiters at the behest of coach Byron Scott, despite the fact that the team hadn’t so much as talked to Waiters prior to draft night. Waiters was a ball-dominant undersized score-first guard, and didn’t mesh with Irving.
• They then fired Byron Scott.
• They then re-hired Mike Brown, who they had fired in a last-ditch attempt to keep LeBron.
• The team doubled down on Waiters with Jarrett Jack, another ball dominant undersized score-first guard.
• They drafted Anthony Bennett first overall.
• They signed Andrew Bynum to a deal.
• They traded for Luol Deng, who had no interest in anything Cleveland had to offer.
• They fired Chris Grant, the general manager, and promoted his subordinate. A Cavs source once told me this time was “painful.” I hear you.
• They won the lottery for the third time, winning the right to select Andrew Wiggins, and trade him for Kevin Love if they so chose.
• LeBron decided to come back after the owner flew to Fort Lauderdale, meanwhile lying about his stealth trip.
• James immediately started undercutting David Blatt, who replaced Mike Brown, which didn’t even merit a bullet point above, but who was fired in large part due to the immaturity and discontent of Irving.
• Kevin Love is traded for and spends the first three years of his time in Cleveland averaging 3,217 trips through the ESPN trade machine per day.
• The Cavs start 18-20 before J.R. Smith and Timofey Mozgov arrive and right the ship.
• That last sentence is like 90 percent true.
• The Cavs lose Love in the first round of the playoffs right as they are turning into a juggernaut.
• The Cavs lose Irving at the end of the second round of the playoffs, before he returned in the clinching Eastern Conference Finals game. He plays a great Game 1 of the NBA Finals and then breaks his kneecap.
• The Cavs still somehow win their next two games before players literally almost started dying of exhaustion.
• The Cavs come back with the same team and are starting to regain their health when David Blatt is fired. General Manager David Griffin says the team was playing without joy and he was right.
• The team holds approximately 42 players-only meetings. Kevin Love is reminded in half of them that he is, in fact, good at basketball.
• The Warriors win 73 games, and the Cavs still find a way to go into the series overconfident. After falling behind 3-1, they win the title.