When the news struck in July 2017 that then-Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving reportedly wanted to be traded, Cavs fans were hit with mixed emotions. There was anger at the fact that Irving wanted to leave and appreciation for hitting “the shot” in the 2016 NBA Finals.
Not many days later, it was reported that the Cleveland Cavaliers were sending Kyrie Irving to the rival Boston Celtics. The trade (which was initially reported by ESPN’s Jeff Goodman and Adrian Wojnarowski) sent Irving to Beantown for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, the Brooklyn Nets’ unprotected 2018 first rounder and later, the Miami Heat 2020 second rounder (as was reported by Wojnarowski and USA TODAY’s Jeff Zillgitt).
At this point, only one player from the trade (Zizic) is still on the Cavs, so what happened to everyone else?
The Brooklyn pick
The easiest asset to track would be the Nets’ first rounder. Rumors circled for the weeks after the 2018 NBA Finals that the Cleveland Cavaliers would try and flip that pick for a player like Kemba Walker, to entice LeBron James into staying, however, nothing ever came to fruition.
Come draft night, the Cavaliers were still in possession of the pick which was the eight overall, and they drafted Alabama guard Collin Sexton.
So far, Sexton’s rookie season has had ups and downs with him showing bursts on offense. He’s had stretches where he’s shot the three-pointer extremely effectively and games where he’s struggled. A consistent theme has been Sexton’s inability to distribute the ball on offense, as evidenced by him only posting 2.9 assists per game, per NBA.com.
The jury is still very much out on Sexton. While it doesn’t look like he’ll ever be an elite point guard in the NBA, he could still very well be a solid starter.
Isaiah Thomas
Isaiah Thomas’ time in Cleveland, like his height, was pretty short. He stirred controversy with his comments about the Cavs that had to be crushing to the locker room (per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Dave McMenamin).
After stints rehabbing with the Cavs’ G League affiliate, the Canton Charge, Thomas made has long-awaited Cavs debut on January 2, 2018, and scored 17 points in 19 minutes off the bench.
Unfortunately after a good second game with Cleveland against the Orlando Magic, it was all downhill. Thomas struggled on the court and was reportedly traded at the deadline to the Los Angeles Lakers with Channing Frye and a 2018 first rounder in exchange for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr.
Clarkson and Nance are both still Cavaliers and both excellent contributors off the bench, as we’ve emphasized here at KJG throughout this season.
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Jae Crowder
The Cavs acquired Jae Crowder along with Thomas from the Celtics. The prevailing thought was Crowder would be a great “three-and-D” guy on the Cavs. Crowder shot 32.8 percent from three on Cleveland, though.
He started 47 out of 53 games (per Basketball Reference), and was massively underwhelming in a big role.
Crowder was reportedly sent to the Utah Jazz along with Derrick Rose in exchange for Rodney Hood. Joe Johnson was sent to the Sacramento Kings as part of the deal.
Rodney Hood
Rodney Hood, who was acquired in the Crowder deal (who was acquired in the Irving deal), was reportedly traded (as was initially reported by Wojnarowski) to the Portland Trail Blazers for Wade Baldwin IV, Nik Stauskas and two future second rounders.
Baldwin would be traded to the Houston Rockets, who then reportedly traded him to the Indiana Pacers, who then released him. Stauskas was also traded to Indiana by Houston and released by the Pacers before reportedly re-signing about a week later with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Hood’s time with the Cavs also had its ups and downs. He showed flashes of his solid mid-range game and showed the ability to hit threes. That being said, inconsistency plagued him in Cleveland, just like it has throughout his career.
In last year’s postseason, he fell completely out of the rotation. He was a key piece in the 2018 trade deadline moves and for the most part, was a disappointment.
He signed a one-year qualifying deal before this season in hopes of reportedly earning a more lucrative longer-term deal this coming off-season. If he does get a deal, it won’t be in Cleveland, given the trade.
The Kyrie Irving trade directly landed the Cavs Zizic, Jae Crowder and Isaiah Thomas and the Nets’ pick. Eventually, this turned into Zizic, Clarkson, Nance, Collin Sexton, Nik Stauskas and a few picks. While the Cavs ended out with a few quality rotation guys, Irving continues to be a star guard on the Celtics.
Danny Ainge, once again, seems to have fleeced another team.
That being said, if the Cavs can develop the pieces they received it may not look quite as bad a year from now, especially if Irving chooses to move on from Boston, which seems to be a real possibility at this point, with rumors constantly floating around.