It’s no secret that the Cleveland Cavaliers are a mess right now. Expected to contend for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference this season, the Cavs are 16-31, have lost six of their last seven games, and there is dysfunction in the locker room.
So when Luol Deng was traded to Cleveland on Jan. 7, he wasn’t exactly being shipped to the greatest situation. Now, less than a month into his tenure, Deng is reportedly unhappy according to the New York Daily News.
Deng is said to have told a close friend that, “the stuff going on in practice would never be tolerated by the coaching staff or the front office back in Chicago. It’s a mess.”
Cavaliers players are reportedly undermining head coach Mike Brown, including shooting guard Dion Waiters who is said to have been kicked out of practice recently, but still received his regular playing time in the team’s next game. Other players are said to have taken off their uniforms at halftime, threatening not to play, and during a trip to New York to take on the Knicks, several Cavaliers allegedly hung out late into the night with Iman Shumpert, JR Smith and San Francisco 49ers QB, Colin Kaepernick.
They were subsequently blown out of the game.
Last week, reports surfaced that Kyrie Irving wanted out of Cleveland, before he later refuted them.
All told, Luol Deng is an unrestricted free agent this summer and if these reports are true, then this doesn’t bode well for the Cavs chances of keeping him around beyond this season.
