3 Biggest 'Woj Bombs' in Cleveland Cavaliers history

Woj Bomb No. 2 - Kyrie Irving exits Cleveland

Not every Woj Bomb was positive for the Cavs fanbase. While Mitchell's arrival birthed a new era, Kyrie Irving's drawn out exit was the beginning of the end for another.

After losing in the 2017 NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors, reports broke that Kyrie Irving wanted to leave the Cavaliers. Irving had played alongside James for years at this point, but he felt a need to graduate to leading his own team.

Bringing Isaiah Thomas, an All-Star point guard, to town was exciting on paper. However, Thomas was coming off a serious knee injury and never found his form again. What was intended as a star-for-star swap to keep James and the Cavs competitive became a botched move that unraveled the Cavaliers back into a rebuilding franchise soon after.

Before the deal with the Boston Celtics, the Cavs were on the verge of a deal to bring Paul George to Cleveland instead in a fumbled three-team deal. With Thomas instead, the Cavaliers were swept in the 2018 Finals and lost LeBron the following offseason to the Los Angeles Lakers. Cleveland suddenly fell back into the lottery, missing the playoffs every season until Mitchell arrived.

The move proved Irving's impact on the Cavaliers. Without Kyrie, the Cavs' offense was heavily-dependent on LeBron James far more than before. Thomas did not have the unstoppable handles and swift moves that Irving employed, and Thomas' depleted health kept Cleveland from building any real chemistry ahead of the playoffs.

In an attempt to salvage a failed offseason, the Cavaliers almost entirely swapped the roster around James, Thomas and Kevin Love during a historic trade deadline. Unfortunately, the drastic deadline could not save the year, morphing Irving's exit into an omen of coming failures in retrospect.