INDEPENDENCE, Ohio _ NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was so concerned about Kyrie Irving's trade request that surfaced Friday that Silver's words carried a tinge of alarm, albeit a few notches below that of Cavaliers fans in Northeast Ohio.
"I feel bad for whatever is going on in Cleveland," Silver said. "I have no first-hand information, but I assume where there's smoke, there's a fire."
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert said calling Silver is on his to-do list. He appreciates Silver's empathy while understanding how badly things look. Irving wants to escape James' shadow. James can become a free agent after next season. Gilbert parted ways with general manager David Griffin, the architect of the 2016 championship team, only to see Gilbert's top choice to run basketball operations, Chauncey Billups, turn him down.
So it was no surprise that a press conference Wednesday at Cleveland Clinic Courts not only served to introduce new general manager Koby Altman, but to calm the perception that the Cavs are in crisis.
"It's unfortunate sort of the narrative that's going on right now in terms of where we're at," Altman said. "This thing is not broken. We are a very successful organization and we're going to continue to strive for that success."
I'll agree with Altman, to a point. Presuming that the Cavs are able to trade Irving for at least one All-Star, they're still the best team in the Eastern Conference. James will be in Cleveland for at least next season before he can opt out of his contract next summer. The Celtics added free agent Gordon Hayward, but no one else in the conference made significant moves. The Pacers took a step backward, trading Paul George to the Thunder, which drew a jab from Gilbert on Wednesday that they "could have done better than it did."
But I can't buy the sales pitch that everything is fine. From the outside, the Cavs look like a train wreck, no pun intended.
The Cavs' merry band of brothers might be broken, even if Irving, a loner, was rarely a participant. The inner turmoil caused by Irving's request could damage the special chemistry that carried the Cavs to the 2016 title. And if that has happened, considering that the Cavs are in win-now mode with the league's highest payroll and James' future uncertain, they can't waste half a season getting it back.
Gilbert and Altman downplayed the idea that Irving and James cannot co-exist, with Altman saying "a lot of that is overblown."
"The people who are in this building every day haven't seen any of that animosity," Altman said.
But the players aren't stepping onto the court together, instead exchanging what could be cryptic messages on social media. The latest was a Snapchat post of Irving singing "I'm Coming Home" on a plane ride back from China, borrowing the theme of James' Sports Illustrated essay when he returned to Cleveland in 2014. On Friday, James' Instagram included a rap song with the lyrics "heavy heart."
So while Gilbert said Irving is still under contract for two more years and at this point expects him to be at Cleveland Clinic Courts when training camp begins on Sept. 25, that looks even less likely considering the covert messages being traded on the internet.
The fact that both Gilbert and Altman said the Irving trade situation is "fluid" and Altman saying he has been in touch with Irving's agent seemingly points to a resolution before late September, but there's no guarantee. If this stretches into the season, the only positive it is that the Irving-James dynamic may upstage speculation about James' future.
The presence of those two distractions portends ugly basketball.
Altman said coach Tyronn Lue has remained "a rock" and is a "huge cultural piece for this organization." But Lue's personal skills could be tested if James and Irving are teammates with the Cavs next season.
"He's a tremendous human being," Altman said of Lue. "But he's also just a relationships guy. Great relationships across the league. Great relationships across our team. He's helped us immensely through this transition process with recruiting free agents and making sure we've been stable."
Altman seems to define stability the same way as his boss, who has had five general managers since he took over the team in 2005.
I won't rule out the possibility that James, Kevin Love, Derrick Rose, J.R. Smith, Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert, Jeff Green and Kyle Korver can forge a strong bond this season, no matter what happens with Irving. Perhaps the addition of Rose, signed Tuesday and a player James respects, can be the strong voice the Cavs need in the locker room, strong enough to defuse potential conflicts.
I could see Irving's request, with him seemingly ready to cast winning aside for personal stardom, refocusing the Cavs on their championship goal.
But when it comes to the perception that everything is fine, that's a leap I can't make, at least not while Irving is still a Cavalier.
