The Cleveland Cavaliers traded away star point guard Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics two offseasons ago. Despite the Wine and Gold becoming a basement-dweller since LeBron James left, neither team seems to have won the trade significantly.
It’s pretty wild to think it’s already the second season without Kyrie Irving for the Cleveland Cavaliers. After playing in his first six seasons with the Wine and Gold, including winning an NBA Championship in 2016, the star point guard wanted out of town to become the leader for another team elsewhere.
So after weeks of deliberating where they should send Irving, Cleveland finally settled on a package proposed by the Boston Celtics. The return featured Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 first-round pick.
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At the time of the Irving trade, it was viewed as an even swap completed by the squads. For Boston, they were getting a proven champion that could team up with fellow All-Star Gordon Hayward to help lead the very young group the Celtics had. Meanwhile, Cleveland was getting two of the main rotation pieces that helped the Celtics notch the top-seed the year prior.
For a minute there, however, it seemed like maybe the Cavaliers did get hosed completely.
The Celtics got off to a remarkable start, rattling off sixteen-straight wins after dropping their first two contests of the 2017-18 season. After losing Hayward for the entire season due to a gruesome injury suffered in the season opener against the Cavaliers, the team rallied together and centered themselves around Irving. It led them to the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
Trying to describe Cleveland’s season with the new additions was like watching a plane’s engine fail during takeoff.
First off, Thomas wasn’t able to play until the beginning of January. That left the Cavaliers trying to give free-agent signing Derrick Rose a ton of minutes after not playing extended time for a few seasons. Rose took an absence from the team and left them scrambling when it came to trying to cushion the blow that was Irving’s departure.
Crowder never seemed to fit in with the rest of the roster. As someone who came over as a “three-and-D” guy, it was pretty disappointing when neither end lived up to what was advertised. His fit in the starting five alongside LeBron James and company always felt awkward and it was apparent in the team’s performance.
Zizic didn’t see the floor and of course, that first-round pick was still a mystery as to what it could become.
So the Cavaliers decided to throw the original script in the trash and perform a massive roster makeover. The result? Acquiring George Hill, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, and Larry Nance Jr.
A nice honeymoon period only lasted so long, as the reality that four steady players wouldn’t be enough to completely right the ship settled in eventually with the organization. The Cavaliers would hold on to James’ superhero cape as he played every game in the regular season and postseason on the team’s way to its fourth-straight NBA Finals.
Ironically enough, they beat the Celtics to get back to the Finals as the Eastern Conference representative. But what probably pained Boston more than anything is the fact they couldn’t use Irving against his former team to try and end the Cavaliers’ reign over the East at the time.
Now, with Irving on the last year of his current contract and James with the Los Angeles Lakers, both squads seem to be left wondering if the swap benefited either side.
Currently, the Celtics sit at fifth in the Eastern Conference and have had their issues well-documented throughout their struggles this season. It hasn’t been what the team expected after having such a successful year last season even with all of the injuries.
Of course, if Boston wins the East crown and heads to their first NBA Finals since 2010, it would be considered a success. They acquired Irving to help return them to their championship pedigree and that would obviously do such, even if they lost in the championship series.
But what if they fail to reach the promised land and Kyrie walks in the offseason? What a massive flop that would be for general manager Danny Ainge and the Boston front office.
If that were to happen, there’s a chance that Cleveland could end up the winners of the deal.
The Cavaliers have four of the five players they acquired essentially due to moving Irving. Though they moved Hill and Hood has emerged as a “targeted” man near the trade deadline (per The Athletic’s Shams Charania, subscription required), there’s a lot of hope that Nance Jr., Sexton, and Zizic turn into players they can build around for the time being. Those three have shown promise and have slowly developed facets of their game as the season rolls along.
Alas, for now, there isn’t a clear winner in the Irving trade.