Tweet of the Night: Kyrie Irving welcomes Andrew Bynum

With reports from Wednesday that Andrew Bynum is headed to Cleveland to join Kyrie Irving and company, the Cleveland Cavaliers may be looking at the beginning of a new era.

Or maybe, they’re just looking to bring back an old era when the summer of 2014 arrives by showcasing what a combination of Bynum and Irving can do. Here’s what Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported about the matter:

For the Cavaliers, the possibility of a Bynum reclamation project taking shape in Cleveland, coupled with All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, will be cornerstones of a recruiting pitch to bring back Miami Heat star LeBron James in the summer of 2014.

That’s probably going to be a long shot, given that James has already won two championships with the Miami Heat. Of course, you never know when it comes to superstar free agents and ironically, James provided the perfect example of that when he bolted Cleveland in the first place.

Back to the whole Bynum-to-Cleveland thing, how it all works out all depends on whether his deteriorating knees are willing to cooperate with the task at hand – proving to the world that he can still dominate a game in the paint. That’s a big risk if you are Dan Gilbert. Remember, there’s a reason that teams around the league weren’t jumping any guns to sign him to a big contract when the season ended. There are plenty of doubts on whether Bynum will ever regain his form after missing all of last season due to the degeneration of both of his knees. He said over and over again that he could play, that he wanted to target a return after the All-Star break. Instead, he experienced swelling despite seeing no game action and eventually needed surgery on both knees.

The good thing is that the Cavaliers currently have plenty of depth in the frontcourt with Anderson Varejao, Tyler Zeller, Tristan Thompson and No. overall pick Anthony Bennett. It allows the team to bring him along slowly if necessary, and should he somehow show no signs of being affected by his knees and ends up playing to his potential, they can then use Varejao as a valuable bargaining chip to acquire another useful player (presumably at the small forward position). The team also acquired veteran guard Jarrett Jack, so there is definitely intrigue when evaluating the talent level of Cleveland’s current roster. Again, it all comes down to what Bynum has left in the tank.

Regardless of what happens, Irving wasn’t shy about showing excitement for his newest teammate: