Cavaliers Deal Kyrie to Celtics
It is very uncommon to see the two top teams in a given conference in any sport make a trade with each other, but that is precisely what the happened when the Boston Celtics traded Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and Brooklyn’s 2018 first-round pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Kyrie Irving. Here are my thoughts on the trade and what comes next.
Cleveland made a play for the short-term and the long-term. This was the fundamental question: Would the Cavs deal Kyrie for a package to help them compete with the Warriors next season or would they concede that LeBron is likely to leave and settle for a package centered around young players and draft picks? In this trade, they did both. I think overall, the Cavaliers did just about as well as they could have given that Kyrie demanded to be moved.
Isaiah Thomas is a liability defensively. Kyrie wasn’t a defensive stalwart either, but he got the job done. IT on the other hand is completely inept on that side of the floor, in large part due to the fact that he is only 5’9”. This really won’t matter much until the Cavaliers go against the Warriors, but Thomas' lack of defensive ability is definitely something to be wary about if you’re the Cavaliers.
The Celtics now have a “Big Three” of their own. Gordon Hayward, Al Horford, and now Kyrie Irving form a three-headed beast that could spell trouble for the LeBron and company in the East. I am sure the Celtics will try and extend Kyrie so this nucleus can be together for at least the next half-decade.
Ultimately, this changes nothing for this coming season. The Cavaliers still have LeBron, which means they’ll still end up in the Finals. What I will say though is that the Eastern Conference Finals between the Celtics and the Cavs will be appointment television. Kyrie and LeBron head-to-head will be all that Mayweather and McGregor has been hyped up to be. While the Celtics won’t make the Finals this year, this trade positions them well moving forward in the Eastern Conference if LeBron does wind up in Los Angeles as many believe.
