Board 8 > NBA trade: Kyrie Irving for Isaiah Thomas

(+) Yeah! (+)

current details:

Kyrie Irving

for

Isaiah Thomas
Jae Crowder
Ante Zizic
Brooklyn's 2018 #1

Kyrie has 3 years left on his deal, IT just 1

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20421382/cleveland-cavaliers-send-kyrie-irving-boston-celtics-deal-including-isaiah-thomas
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Oh hey Boston finally made some use out of those Brooklyn draft picks
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I can't believe Cleveland got as much as they did for Kyrie given his trade demand. yeah IT leaves soon but that Nets #1 could be the #1 pick in the draft.

Boston has a serious core now with Kyrie, Tatum and Hayward.
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And Cleveland will need that pick after LeBron leaves, so good for them.
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yeah I was also thinking that Lebron and Thomas expiring at the same time, along with a potential #1 pick, is a hell of a rebuild for a team that should be absolutely horrible when Lebron drops that bomb
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just remember

one year of Paul George brought back an awful Oladipo contract
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LOL Pacers

It is weird that Boston is giving so much help to their biggest rival, but I guess they figure they'll be good enough to beat them this year and they won't have to worry about them afterward.
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I dunno, I think the opposite. Cleveland still better this year and Boston, as always, looking to the future
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Oh god yes

I'll miss IT but oh god yes
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what the fuck
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Kyrie vs IT, Lebron vs Hayward is compelling theater though

and then there's the rest of the east
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Man, a former #1 pick traded for a former #60. Has that ever happened?
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OlDirtyNumbers posted...

what the fuck

I don't even follow the NBA very closely (read: at all since I don't have espn on in the background all the time anymore) and this was literally my first reaction
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transcience posted...

I dunno, I think the opposite. Cleveland still better this year and Boston, as always, looking to the future

I mean, Cleveland might still be better, but Boston might think they're still better. I dunno why you do the deal otherwise because Boston got better this offseason and Cleveland got worse.
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transience posted...

I can't believe Cleveland got as much as they did for Kyrie given his trade demand. yeah IT leaves soon but that Nets #1 could be the #1 pick in the draft.

Boston has a serious core now with Kyrie, Tatum and Hayward.

Don't forget Jaylen Brown.
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i'm gonna have a panic attack aughhhh
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god bos @ cle is the goddamn season opener

this rules
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oh man that'll be good
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https://puu.sh/xgYz1/46901007af.png

Isaiah wasting no time in throwing the Boston fans under the bus
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So that Brooklyn pick is unprotected?
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Re-posting from neon's topic:

It's hard to imagine Kyrie having a significantly better season than IT did last year... And the Celtics were not contenders then.

Yeah I'm leaning toward this being bad for Boston
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seems that way
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Danny Ainge is an idiot.
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I guess I think of it this way

Kyrie had Lebron to attract all the attention
Isaiah had.. Al Horford?

both teams won the same number of games

I think long-term this is bad for Cleveland, but short-term, yeah, this should be good if the two can co-exist (and I bet they can)
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I think people are over rating Thomas here. Last season was easily his best and there's no guarantee he'll repeat it.
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that said.. IT on D is going to be a disaster vs. GSW

edit: counterpoint: Kyrie Irving
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I have 0 clue what the 2018 draft class looks like, but unless it's a complete bust of a draft I agree that CLE won this
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2018's #1 is already getting serious buzz
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the one thing i can see in this from boston's perspective is if they didn't think they'd be able to pay IT next summer, this gets them a comparable player on contract for an extra year to keep their window open, crucially, a year after lebron probably bolts west.
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oh they can pay IT. the question is why - he's a 5'7 guy pushing 30 who probably deserves a max, but for how long?
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Both teams won this trade
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

Re-posting from neon's topic:

It's hard to imagine Kyrie having a significantly better season than IT did last year... And the Celtics were not contenders then.

Yeah I'm leaning toward this being bad for Boston

Well the only competition in the East got worse as well. Last season was an outlier for Thomas, he won't repeat it. As much as I love IT he isn't worth a max contract and now they don't have to worry about it. We also don't know how good the pick will be because there's a lot of bad teams and a lottery. Not too mention they have an all-star point guard for a couple extra seasons and they'll have a year experience together when Lebron (probably) leaves
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I can't say I imagined the 2018 Celtics not having IT, Bradley or Crowder

The only thing that really makes me wishy-washy about this trade - aside from Kyrie's fragility - is giving up the Brooklyn pick. Zizic/Crowder/Thomas probably ought to have been enough.

This definitely makes FA for the Celtics next year an interesting prospect though, since now the only '18 free agent is Smart.

Honestly the Cavs getting the #1 and Crowder is probably worse than them getting Thomas for a year.

Zizic who the fuck knows.

Weird trade.
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on that note


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fffffffffffff
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will miss IT4. This is an upgrade but it felt like we had too many assets to get back fair value. I dunno. I don't really like Kyrie but we had to do something
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Keep in mind, though, Boston still has a shot at a 2-5 pick thanks to the trade they made with Philadelphia for their #1 pick.

So it's an overpay, but not a bad one.
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For the most part, I'd say it's huge for Cleveland (since they really should have had no leverage) and solid for Boston.

Cleveland has the ability to compete in LeBron's final year while having something that could help them rebuild immediately should he leave.

Boston grabs the better, younger player with an extra year on his contract, plus Brad Stevens is a much better coach than anyone Kyrie's had yet so maybe he can help him reach the unrealized potential defensively and running the point.
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Eh, I'm not expecting Kyrie to suddenly morph into somebody he hasn't been before just because of Brad Stevens.

I think getting the Brooklyn pick is what makes this a win for Cleveland because they'll need that more than anything.
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LeonhartFour posted...

Eh, I'm not expecting Kyrie to suddenly morph into somebody he hasn't been before just because of Brad Stevens.

I think getting the Brooklyn pick is what makes this a win for Cleveland because they'll need that more than anything.

This is true.
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LeonhartFour posted...

Eh, I'm not expecting Kyrie to suddenly morph into somebody he hasn't been before just because of Brad Stevens.

Keep in mind we're talking a leap from poor defender and below average running of an offense to below average defender and above average at running an offense.

I mean Isaiah Thomas is living proof of guys having massive jumps. I mean, he was always pretty good and fairly underrated but this past season he become almost MVP level.
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Kyrie's been in a weird spot. Lebron was brought in when he was ~21 years old and he never had a chance to shine on his own. he's going to get that now. is he the kind of guy that can score 30 a game? he certainly seemed like it in the finals, but Kyrie has always seemed better in the playoffs than in a regular game. there's a reason that he wasn't even discussed for the all-NBA team. it'll be interesting to see if he can carry a team because he's the clear #1 on a contender now.
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Isaiah Thomas was still one of the absolute worst defenders in the league last year, too. Largely due to his size, but still, it'll depend on whether or not Kyrie actually wants to be that kind of player. He hasn't really shown any tendencies toward it, but maybe getting a chance to prove he can be THE GUY on a top flight team will motivate him.
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https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/900185763718897664

huh, didn't see this coming, especially after that Kyrie/Steph video came out the day of the trade demand
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Eh, LeBron isn't going to publicly roast Kyrie. That's not really his style. He'll make some cryptic, passive-aggressive comment at some other time that gives him plausible deniability.
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I'm so mad the fucking Knicks couldn't make this happen
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as if the Knicks had a star player on a one year deal, a young wing on a good deal and a potential #1 pick
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I mean, if they were willing to give up Porzingas they could have gotten him, but trading a player as good as him on a rookie contract for a guy only two years away from unrestricted free agency would be... well, Phil Jacksonian to be honest.
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Longest tenured Celtics

1. Marcus Smart
2. Terry Rozier
3. Jaylen Brown

so weird
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I will add that I completely trust a former college coach to deal with this level of roster turnover better than most NBA coaches would
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