The Cavaliers trading Kyrie Irving was a big deal

SB Nation

Babe wake up, the Cavs traded Kyrie.  Just a few months after the Celtics and Cavaliers vied for a trip to the 2017 finals, they swapped point guards, Kyrie Irving for Isaiah Thomas. Why would the Cavs want to make a huge change just about a year removed from a title?  Well, Kyrie had said he was unhappy in LeBron's shadow and wanted a trade. Cleveland then had to decide wtf they were gonna do. They weighed the options and concluded a 5'9" Boston hero with hip issues was their best bet. How'd they figure? The video'll tell ya, I have a character limi  Written and produced by: Clara Morris Directed and edited by: Ryan Simmons  Subscribe: http://goo.gl/Nbabae Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/secretbase Follow us on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/secretbase.bsky.social Follow us on Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@secretbasesbn? Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/9pMHRV Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/NvpZFF Explore SB Nation: http://www.sbnation.com

Transcript

00:00Wait, so the reigning Eastern Conference finalists swapped point guards?

00:07Why would the Cavs give up a four-time All-Star, one of the best ball handlers in the game,

00:12the guy whose clutch shot gave them a championship a little over a year ago?

00:18Isn't LeBron going to be pissed?

00:20And why would the Celtics give up a prolific underdog who everyone loves,

00:24who played through injuries and tragedies to get them to the Eastern Conference finals last season?

00:31What is everyone doing?

00:33What is the plan here?

00:34Where am I?

00:35What is going on?

00:37This blockbuster trade had the potential to upset the status quo of the Eastern Conference

00:43while influencing where the game's biggest star played next.

00:47The Cleveland Cavaliers trading Kyrie Irving was a big deal.

00:51In the summer of 2017, Cleveland found themselves with a problem.

00:57Their second-best player, a very good player, asked for a trade

01:01because he no longer wanted to be the second-best player on a team.

01:06Some said, yeah, go for it.

01:09Others said it was an idiot-based hubris decision.

01:13I'm not here to judge.

01:15But either way, sticky situation for the Cavs,

01:18who hadn't been having the world's best offseason in the first place.

01:22Er, actually, let's back up further.

01:25Right before the offseason, they weren't having much fun either.

01:29They failed to defend their 2016 title, losing in five quick, clean games to the Warriors.

01:35The same Warrior super team they'd have to get through that coming year

01:38and, conceivably, the rest of their lives.

01:41After losing the finals, LeBron James said the Cavs needed to make some roster moves

01:45to keep up with Golden State.

01:47So, great.

01:49Management knew what the king wanted.

01:51Go do it.

01:52Simple enough.

01:54Oh, wait, they're already over the salary cap.

01:57Oh, wait, they parted ways with their GM

01:59and were now working with a 34-year-old new GM.

02:04Oh, wait, they tried and failed to get Paul George.

02:07Same with Jimmy Butler.

02:08Okay, they did sign some backups.

02:12But, basically, they did so little that summer,

02:15some predicted the Celtics would finish the regular season ahead of them.

02:19Oh, wait, because the Celtics had a good offseason.

02:22Oh, wait, everybody had a good offseason except the Cavs.

02:27Oh, the offseason wasn't over.

02:29And Kyrie was super desirable.

02:32His talent was Cleveland's leverage.

02:35Oh, wait, Kyrie's timing could not be worse.

02:38James had just one year before he could become a free agent,

02:42and he was not committing to staying in Cleveland.

02:46So, how were the Cavs supposed to know what to go after

02:48in exchange for Kyrie?

02:50Win-now players that would convince LeBron to stay?

02:54Or young guys in picks to start the rebuild

02:57they'd have to do if James bolted the following summer?

03:00What could the Cavs do?

03:02That question dominated the summer of 2017.

03:05Let's break it down into four categories.

03:08One, don't trade Kyrie.

03:10Two, trade Kyrie later.

03:13Three, trade Kyrie now.

03:15Four, trade LeBron.

03:16What?

03:17No, nobody's doing that.

03:20No more hot takes.

03:23Okay, three categories.

03:25The Cavs had no obligation to trade Irving

03:27just because he asked nicely.

03:29I'm assuming he asked nicely.

03:31He was under contract for two more years.

03:34And, in fact, at first,

03:35Cleveland said they weren't going to trade him.

03:38New GM Kobe Altman and owner Dan Gilbert

03:40tried to downplay the request,

03:42using a new word their PR department

03:44seemed to think was bulletproof.

03:47It wasn't.

03:49Because, I mean, could Kyrie and LeBron

03:51really get along and play together

03:52after Kyrie dropped this bomb?

03:54The drama, my God.

03:57The city didn't forgive Kyrie,

03:59as evidenced by Cleveland.com

04:01publishing a listicle of places

04:03to burn Kyrie's jersey.

04:05And even if James could still play with Irving,

04:08how about the rest of the team?

04:10Apparently, Kyrie was already

04:11pouting up the locker room during the playoffs.

04:14Oh, and just one more quick thing.

04:18Irving was threatening knee surgery

04:20that'd knock him out for most of the season

04:21if the Cavs didn't trade him.

04:24Okay, let's trade Kyrie.

04:27The Cavs could wait till December 15 to trade him,

04:29because that's when the summer's free agents

04:31become eligible for a trade,

04:33and maybe they could get a better package.

04:35But that doesn't solve any of the drama

04:38or knee surgery problems.

04:40So this wasn't a great option.

04:43Number three it is.

04:45The Cavs went to LeBron being like,

04:47throw us a bone.

04:48Are you staying or leaving?

04:49Please stay, please stay, please stay.

04:51You know Drew Carey's from here, right?

04:53But LeBron wouldn't commit,

04:54and there were an awful lot of rumors

04:56about him going to L.A.

04:59There were reports that the Cavs assumed

05:01LeBron was leaving,

05:02and thus they wanted youth and draft picks.

05:04But hey, they had to see what was out there too.

05:08Let's crisscross the country,

05:09starting in Phoenix,

05:10who looked like the ideal trade partner for Cleveland.

05:13They had just drafted Josh Jackson fourth overall,

05:16and they had Miami's 2018 first-round pick,

05:19so that'd be nice for rebuilding.

05:22Not to mention point guard Eric Bledsoe

05:24was coming off his best season.

05:27And what's this?

05:28He worked out with LeBron this summer.

05:30Interesting, interesting.

05:33And let's not forget Devin Booker,

05:35who was looking like a future star

05:36after just two years in the league.

05:38Or actually, let's forget Devin Booker.

05:42Kyrie only had two years left on his contract,

05:44and Phoenix was wary about giving up their future

05:47for a guy who might jet in two years.

05:49They were only willing to give up Bledsoe,

05:51the pick, and the throw-in,

05:53which wasn't enough for Cleveland.

05:56How about the Knicks?

05:57At one point that summer,

05:59Vegas had the Knicks as Kyrie's most likely landing spot.

06:02Rumor was the Cavs thought 22-year-old

06:05Kristaps Porzingis would be an ideal piece

06:07to rebuild around,

06:08but the Knicks weren't willing to part with him.

06:12Onward to San Antonio?

06:14The Spurs were interested in Kyrie.

06:18Kyrie was interested in the Spurs.

06:21But San Antonio's trade assets were veterans.

06:24Some possibly past their prime.

06:27In short, not helpful to Cleveland if LeBron left.

06:31Okay, how about the Timberwolves?

06:33Irving had them on his wish list,

06:35but it would require Minnesota

06:37to really change their game plan.

06:39They had spent the offseason revamping their roster.

06:41They were the ones who ended up getting Jimmy Butler,

06:44and they just signed point guard Jeff Teague

06:46to a big contract.

06:48Neither Teague nor Butler could be traded

06:50until December 15,

06:51if Minnesota even wanted to do that.

06:54The Cavs were interested in Andrew Wiggins,

06:56but wanted more.

06:58And the Timberwolves were like,

07:00we love Wiggins, get away from us.

07:03So that was a dead end.

07:05Could Irving take his talents to South Beach?

07:07There were rumors Miami would part

07:10with Goran Dragic and Justice Winslow.

07:13Dragic was a solid point guard,

07:15but he was 31.

07:16Hey, Justice Winslow was young and promising.

07:20Oh wait, Miami's not in the game.

07:22This happened with the Bucs, too.

07:25There were reports they were willing to part

07:27with Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon,

07:29Chris Middleton, and a first-round pick,

07:32which doesn't sound bad for Cleveland,

07:34but it also wasn't real.

07:38Denver, anyone?

07:40The Cavs reportedly inquired about Jamal Murray,

07:42an explosive point guard

07:43who showed a lot of potential.

07:45So much potential that the Nuggets

07:47would not be trading him.

07:49I thought Kyrie's talent was their leverage.

07:53What the fuck?

07:54Nobody's trading potential talent

07:56for two years of guaranteed Kyrie Irving?

07:59Excuse me.

08:00Now it is time to talk about the Boston Celtics.

08:04The Celtics wanted two years of Kyrie Irving.

08:08They sent Cleveland Isaiah Thomas,

08:10Jay Crowder,

08:11rookie center Ante Zizic,

08:13and the 2018 first-round pick

08:15they had gotten from Brooklyn years ago.

08:18The deal was heralded as masterful,

08:20a triumph for new GM Kobe Altman

08:22and owner Dan Gilbert.

08:24The Cavs did the impossible.

08:26They got the assets to both compete now

08:29and rebuild in 2018.

08:32The first-round pick was huge

08:33for the Cavs' rebuilding efforts.

08:35And Zizic probably too.

08:38Jay Crowder and IT were about winning now.

08:41Crowder was a good defender

08:42and spent last season shooting about 40%

08:45from beyond the arc.

08:46Thomas, well, okay,

08:48we can admit most people would bet on Kyrie

08:51in a game of one-on-one.

08:52But the optimists in Cleveland would point out

08:56Thomas had a lot going for him.

08:58That's more points per game than Kyrie

09:00while surrounded by worse teammates.

09:03Although maybe the better players

09:06was why Irving wasn't shooting and scoring more.

09:10Irving's shooting percentage

09:11is a little higher than Thomas's.

09:13But the optimists would not point that out.

09:17They'd point out that Thomas's style

09:19could potentially unlock

09:20Kevin Love's playmaking ability,

09:22something Love had done earlier in his career

09:24with the Timberwolves,

09:25but never got a chance to in Cleveland.

09:28Yes, fine, Thomas missed time

09:30with a hip injury in the Eastern Conference Finals

09:32and still rehabbing from that.

09:34But whatever...

09:36Rats.

09:38Maybe they should have had a few concerns

09:40because Thomas's physical revealed

09:42his hip could be an issue.

09:45So much so that the deal stalled

09:47until the Celtics offered

09:49to add a 2020 second-round pick

09:51about a week later.

09:52And maybe the Cavs should have held out for more

09:55because Thomas didn't end up playing until January.

09:59When he returned,

10:00there was no time for him to figure out

10:02how to play with LeBron and a new team.

10:04Also, his hip had kind of ruined him.

10:07He was not the same player he was in Boston

10:09and the Cavs were not winning

10:11as much as they'd like.

10:12He wasn't great in the locker room either.

10:16But you can't really blame the little guy.

10:18Sorry, I mean, you can blame him

10:20so much that the Cavs' social media account

10:23had to turn off comments

10:25on his happy birthday post.

10:27I've never had to turn off comments on a post

10:29and I'm a woman who talks about sports on the internet.

10:33That's not a challenge, though.

10:34Please be nice to me.

10:35Thomas lasted 15 games

10:37before the Cavs shipped him off for some bench guys.

10:39They traded away Jay Crowder, too.

10:42The win-now portion of the Kyrie deal didn't work out.

10:45I mean, the Cavs did make the finals in 2018,

10:48which does require a lot of winning,

10:50but that was more because LeBron is superhuman

10:53than because of the new guys.

10:54And I'm separating the win-now portion of the deal

10:57as the part that didn't work

10:58because that rebuilding piece,

11:00the 2018 first-round pick,

11:03well, let's take a look.

11:05They needed it

11:05because LeBron did in fact leave in the 2018 offseason.

11:08Cleveland used the pick

11:10to get Colin Sexton 8th overall.

11:13He was pretty good.

11:14The Cavs had some struggling years,

11:16as you do in a rebuild.

11:18In 2022, Sexton was part of the trade

11:20that brought Donovan Mitchell to the Cavs.

11:23So, that pick from the Kyrie-Boston deal

11:27turned into Donovan Mitchell

11:29and the playoffs by 2023.

11:32So, hold on.

11:32Actually, did this deal totally work out for the Cavs?

11:36They did both.

11:37They did the impossible.

11:39They traded Kyrie,

11:40won now the Eastern Conference Finals,

11:42and rebuilt.

11:44What more can you want?

11:46Probably a title in 2018.

11:49Making it to the Finals

11:50is different than winning the title.

11:53Sure, sure, sure.

11:53Yes, of course.

11:54But for a team that had to give up

11:56a disgruntled future Hall of Famer?

11:59Not a bad deal.

12:00Not a bad deal.

12:06Not a bad deal.

12:07Not a bad deal.

12:08Not a bad deal.

12:09Not a bad deal.

12:10Not a bad deal.

12:11Not a bad deal.

12:12Not a bad deal.

12:13Not a bad deal.

12:14Not a bad deal.

12:15Not a bad deal.

12:16Not a bad deal.

12:17Not a bad deal.

12:18Not a bad deal.

12:19Not a bad deal.

12:20Not a bad deal.

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