All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics earlier this week but that deal nearly never came to fruition as the Cleveland Cavaliers' former front office had a deal in place that would have sent the floor general to the Western Conference.

According to Jason Lloyd of The Athletic, Cleveland was prepared to ship Irving to the Phoenix Suns as part of a three-team deal that would have netted them a new point guard and Paul George.

“In the days before David Griffin and Trent Redden were removed from the Cavs’ front office two months ago, the framework of a deal involving Kyrie Irving and the Phoenix Suns was in place,” writes The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd. “The Cavs were “close” to sending Irving to Phoenix in a three-team trade that also included the Indiana Pacers, multiple sources with knowledge of the deal told The Athletic. Under the proposed trade, Paul George and Eric Bledsoe would come to Cleveland, Irving and Channing Frye were headed to Phoenix and the Pacers would’ve received the No. 4 pick in the draft along with Iman Shumpert and Jared Dudley.”

While it's hard to argue that this deal would have provided Cleveland with a better return than they received from Boston, the opportunity to pair George as well as Bledsoe alongside LeBron and Kevin Love would have given the Cavaliers quite the lineup.

However, that deal would not have come close to giving Cleveland the type of insurance that they currently have should LeBron elect to leave Northeast Ohio once again when he becomes a free agent come the summer of 2018.