I apologize for my comments, and will edit/delete them. I get the strong feeling we're getting the LBJ and Cavs FO spin machine in full voice right now while Kyrie is a continent away, and I definitely don't think it's an accident.
As I said before, knowing folks who know and trust Kyrie, I have faith in his judgment. The thing that worries me is that stuff that he does to screw w/ people as a lark (the flat-earth thing being the most obvious example -- I mean, come on, folks. Dude was born in Australia. He knows the world isn't flat -- he just likes to screw with people), in concert w/ the fact that Ky has never been obsessed w/ or worried about the media's view of him is gonna leave him w/ the short straw here, and he'll pay the price for it.
Frankly, I think Kyrie is just tired of being considered the basketball version of TV's 'time-slot hit.' I see it from the Haberstroh's of the world. I see it here. I see it on RealGM. I think he knows that the only way he will legitimize himself as a player is to lead a team w/o LeBron, and he knows just as well as we all do that a Bron-centered team w/o LeBron is the exact wrong fate for him.
Again, apologies.
Define legitimize. If you mean be the best player on a contender, that's simply never going to happen.
He's either going to be in a tier 1 player's shadow, or the main man on an also ran. That's what he is. Highly entertaining player to watch because of his offensive skillset, but just another guy who needs to score 27 efficiently on offense to break even with his deficiencies. I was for trading him before all of this because his only value is as a scorer. Lebron is a far superior facilitator, and his main function was trading baskets against the other elite teams and trying to beat them at their own game which was futile.
Any time he was afforded the opportunity to be the main man when Lebron sat, we lost to teams with inferior talent. He is what he is. If he was offended at being deemed expendable when he is expendable if given the opportunity to obtain a more complete player, that's simply a lack of self-awareness on his part. He'd be a really good second or third option on a team with teammates who could cover for his defensive liabilities or with a dominant rim protector who could serve as a last resort for his turnstyle defense. He has some amazing offensive skills, but is simply one dimensional on a team that can't afford the pieces necesssary to complement his shortcomings. It's been apparent what he is for quite awhile, so it's the FO's fault as much as his for not pairing him with consistent rim protection.