Shams: Cleveland and Boston have agreement on deal to send Kyrie Irving to the Celtics for Isaiah Thomas package to Cavs

[PhilBlackson]

Wow, I'm in shock that the Cavs got that much for a player who publicly made it clear he wanted out. Cavs were basically trading pennies on the dollar and they still walk out with Thomas, Crowder and a potential Top 5 pick in a loaded draft next year? lol I can't believe Ainge cracked so badly and gave away that much for a guy like Irving. Sure, he's an upgrade at PG over Thomas, but is he THAT much better? I don't know.

Gilbert just did an even better trade than Masai did for Melo.

[RaptorsLife]

Everyone expects cavs vs celtics ECF. honestly. it would be hella exciting to watch but alot people thought we were gonna get wade vs lebron in 2016 and played spoiler lets do it again but right now east is pretty decent in the top of chain. its exciting season cant wait to see who will be the team that gets the priviage to get dismantled by warriors lol

[PhilBlackson]

Which one of Kyrie, Hayward or Tatum is going to lead the defense???

[DreamTeam09]

The pick was sent so that Cavs would waive the physical on IT. IT has a serious hip injury, that may or may not require surgery, which will be after another scan coming in Sept, to see if his non surgery rehab is progressing. If it is, and he doesn't require surgery, Cavs win this deal hands down.

IF IT is out, or not progressing as well as they hoped, this deal turns out to be Brooklyn first and Jae for Kyrie.

Cavs also rumored to get Dwayne Wade when his buyout happens. Not a bad guard rotation of IT (If healthy), Rose (Semi healthy), and Wade (Semi healthy), and JR smith and co.

Personally I think if they got could Suns package for Bledsoe, Josh, and a first, that would have been better than the Celtics offer in match up against GSW. Cavs desperately need a defensive guard who can also score like Bledsoe.

Also super weird to see the top two teams in the East trade with one another.

Regardless this deal is Crowder + 1st for Kyrie. IT being injured would take away from the cherry on top of going back to the finals and hoping to beat the Cavs.

Crowder is the player that makes this deal better than the phx deal imo. Crowder is someone who gets to guard Durant and Durant has to respect him at the arc to stretch the floor for lebron. Now he doesn't have to guard KD fll 48 and go back to free safety lebron defense. He was doing that last year neway, but he was letting KD put up 35 in the process. Crowder n Lebron on the wings is crazee for defense. He's going to call him his shane battier 2.0

+ you'll be able to get a pick for crowder if lebron leaves this summer and u wanna rebuild. It might not be a better future trade, but it's a way better win now deal, and that BK pick is huge on top of it

[ChromeKid]

Which one of Kyrie, Hayward or Tatum is going to lead the defense???

Judging by their moves this off season it appears they've given up on defense. If they picked josh Jackson i would have liked this trade more for them. They just have too many redundant players so its going to be easy to game plan for them in the playoffs.

[rapcity10]

Jheezus christ it boggles my mind how some of you guys just hate on Boston for the sake of hating on them. They added a guy that's proven to be a complete monster on the big stage. One of the best scorers in the game, just a pure offensive dominant talent. Just imagine him playing with a coach like Brad Stevens. Making him play team ball for once in his career. You guys are out to lunch. Kyrie is a special talent, and he's a guy that when the stage gets brighter his cojones hang lower unlike some of the players on our team. Last year we were hating on the Celtics team cause of "fake all star" Isiah Thomas, and how jar crowder and all their team were scrubs. Haha now they going to miss them??? Now they added a clear superstar point guard with a chance to be the man under a brilliant basketball mind in Brad Stevens. He's gonna become a better defender under Stevens as well and playmaker, that's what elite coaches do. He's only 25 , and locked in for two more years at a bargain contact. The cavs and celtics both won this trade. And if the rumours of D wade heading to Cleveland is true. The NBA is drooling absolutely drooling at an Cavs Celtics ECF. We're gone in the first round this year.

saying that cleveland wins this trade is a pretty objective statement. kyrie irving is barely an upgrade over isiah thomas (look at his numbers last year, he was a monster for them) if he is even an upgrade at all, and in return the cavs get someone with equal or better talent/production PLUS another role player and some picks... seriously, idk kyrie irving has shown nothing in his career to prove that he can singlehandedly take a team over the top. it's actually pretty odd that you call isiah thomas a fake all star and kyrie irving some sort of superstar when isiah thomas put up better numbers last season than kyrie irving ever has in his career, even before lebron showed up.

Lol I was being sarcastic calling Isiah Thomas a fake all star, I was mocking the 80 percent of this fan base and this board That were calling him that and a midget last year. Why did the flip just switch today that Thomas is such a good player? Isiah Thomas is a very good player, he can hoop and that's a fact. Joy to watch and c him compete. That trade was genius by the cavs but it was also genius by the celtics. Kyrie Irving and Brad Stevens together is a nightmare for other teams. Kyrie is a once in a generation offensive talent, he's not comparable to any other player in the game in that aspect. I have a feeling playing under a superstar coach in Stevens is going to bring out his playmaking abilities and he will become a better defender. Kyrie is special man. This man just gets better and better when the stakes get higher. His first couple seasons playing under complete COMPLETE scrubs and bryon Scott as the Head coach doesn't hinder him at all.

[rapcity10]

Which one of Kyrie, Hayward or Tatum is going to lead the defense???

Judging by their moves this off season it appears they've given up on defense. If they picked josh Jackson i would have liked this trade more for them. They just have too many redundant players so its going to be easy to game plan for them in the playoffs.

They still have Jaylen Brown who JJ Redddick a respected veteran in this league said can be the best defender in the game on his podcast, still have smart, horford, Hayward, rozier, Baynes, Semi (crowder clone) and Marcus Morris are all solid solid defenders. They won't miss a beat, especially with Stevens at the helm. Superstar coaches make players and teams look better than they are .

[rapcity10]

Everyone expects cavs vs celtics ECF. honestly. it would be hella exciting to watch but alot people thought we were gonna get wade vs lebron in 2016 and played spoiler lets do it again but right now east is pretty decent in the top of chain. its exciting season cant wait to see who will be the team that gets the priviage to get dismantled by warriors lol

It's going to be Cavs- Celtics, Cavs-wizards, Cavs-Bucks in the ECF. Here I just ruined the entire season for u.

[beeshake]

How do we feel about this, group?

[IceBelly05]

Boston would've been better off trading this or a similar package for Jimmy Butler or PG, and drafting Markelle Fultz. Danny Ainge hoarded his assets and ultimately overpaid for Kyrie, who does not in my opinion push the needle much more than Isaiah Thomas. Cleaveland on the other hand clearly wins the east again and gets a top 5 pick to rebuild after Lebron leaves next summer. Highway robbery

[Raps in 4]

God dammit. The one team I didn't want to see him on. Fk. FKFKFKFKKFKFK

Why? He's almost the same player IT was. And Boston gave up a king's ransom to get him.

I don't think so. Don't even consider them in the same category. IT would have handcuffed the Celts. Now they have a pg who can dominate put up 40 when he feels like it, and is 25. And wouldn't want the two other top teams in the east trading players. That's just the worst possible trade partnership as far as the third team in the mix is concerned.

Irving:
ORPM: 4.35
DRPM: -2.35
RPM: 2.05
TS%: 58%
PPG: 25
Number of 40+ point games: 4

IT:
ORPM: 5.72
DRPM: -3.89
RPM: 1.83
TS%: 63%
PPG: 29
Number of 40+ point games: 5

They're pretty much the same player. Sure Kyrie is younger and still might not have reached his peak, but if has peaked, you're not really getting an upgrade. You also need to face the possibility that he might regress when playing away from Lebron. An IT for Kyrie swap would have been fine. But to give up prospects and a top-4 pick as well for essentially a younger version of the same player is insane.

[JaysRule15]

Cavaliers Save $29.1M In Luxury Tax Payments With Kyrie Irving Trade

Cavs winning on all fronts

[GreatWhiteStiff]

I'm going to guess Saltics didn't really value IT much. 1 year on his deal, injured, getting old, horribad defence, they felt they had to trade a bit to upgrade to irving who'll be entering his prime.

[RaptorsLife]

Everyone expects cavs vs celtics ECF. honestly. it would be hella exciting to watch but alot people thought we were gonna get wade vs lebron in 2016 and played spoiler lets do it again but right now east is pretty decent in the top of chain. its exciting season cant wait to see who will be the team that gets the priviage to get dismantled by warriors lol

It's going to be Cavs- Celtics, Cavs-wizards, Cavs-Bucks in the ECF. Here I just ruined the entire season for u.

If cavs traded for Chris paul I would have known the entire season results

Warriors going back to back

[G.A. Clone]

Cavs making plans for the post Lebron era.

I don't get this move by Ainge. They're not that much better with Kyrie and that gave up a lot

IT kept his mouth open this whole summer claiming things like he deserves the max, blah blah blah. Maybe his act was getting dull with the front office and they have no intention of paying him max next off-season. Thought they'd recover something while ridding themselves of a potential headache.

[LastNameEver]

Both teams did well I guess. Celtics still need a 2 way player..closest is Hayward,
Horford is getting up there in age.

[Wasp]

Put it this way — if someone gave you the option 2 years ago that with all of the Celts assets, they would come out with a core of Irving, Hayward, Horford, Brown and Tatum with zero frontcourt depth and significantly worse defensive depth, you'd take it. Even if they're slightly better than us (which I don't think they are personally, but it's definitely debatable), I don't see a Championship team in there. Considering all of the assets at Ainge's disposal, that's a very poor haul.

[Randle McMurphy]

Put it this way — if someone gave you the option 2 years ago that with all of the Celts assets, they would come out with a core of Irving, Hayward, Horford, Brown and Tatum with zero frontcourt depth and significantly worse defensive depth, you'd take it. Even if they're slightly better than us (which I don't think they are personally, but it's definitely debatable), I don't see a Championship team in there. Considering all of the assets at Ainge's disposal, that's a very poor haul.

It's not even close to a championship team and this trade pretty much ensured that they will never get there. Just a brutal trade for the Celtics and that's even setting aside the fact that they just improved the Cavs (their primary competition) both next year and in the future.

Only downside for the Raptors that I can see here is if this deal is a factor in convincing LeBron to stay in Cleveland past this season. No other team will be winning the conference as long as he's still in it. I bet he winds up in LA, though.

[Wilfried]

Think the Raptors have a chance to become the second best team in the east now. Celtics got a little worse to me.
Irving and Hayward are great players (but no superstars), but they lost Bradley, Amir Johnson, IT and Crowder this summer.
That's 4 of the starting 5 of last season.

Strange by Ainge.

[Laure]

Cavs won this trade, even with IT+Crowder+Zizic it would've been solid, but another top 3 pick? They are set for the future.
As for the Celts, they had to do something - let's see if Irving is worth being a number 1 guy again.