Celtics trade Isaiah Thomas, Brooklyn 2018 pick & players for Kyrie Irving

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

FWIW with LBJ turning 33 in December, does Gilbert really back up the Brinks truck to keep him?

If the season is going south, if I were him I'd consider moving him at the trade deadline. They would net a fortune for him.

TO whom do they trade him? What team has (a) the cap space and (b) the picks/players to do the deal and (c) the talent to get past the GSW in the finals so as to make a short term rental of LBJ worth it?

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Exactly. I'd love to see the list of players from ages 19-21 who were able to single-handedly lead their team to even an 8th seed. Jordan led the Bulls (at ages 22 and 23) to two-straight first round exits via sweep, and made his first finals at age 27.

Irving, at 25, has already made the finals 3 times, won once, and should have been the MVP of that series. But because he couldn't lead the Cavs, with broken down Antawn Jamison as their leading scorer, to a winning record, when he should have been in college (freshman to junior year) - he sucks.

It's funny, no one ever considers that Lebron won, BECAUSE of Dwyane Wade and Kyrie Irving, not because he brought them along for the ride.

I'm not a James-basher by any means, but you could easily make the argument that James would not have won a damn thing without Wade and Irving, and the numbers back that up.

I'm not saying by any means that he sucks. If he wasn't actively seeking to become the team alpha male and "face of the franchise," I'd have no concerns. I do think it's risky taking on a guy who wants to be "the man" when there's more than a decent chance he is not a guy you can build a championship team around. I would feel much better if he just hated LeBron, clashed with other players in Cleveland, or something along those lines. Guys seeking to blatantly become a bonafide superstar who always get the last shots, and where rhe offense needs to go through them - I've seen that blow up too many times. No I didn't expect him to win 50 games as a young kid in Cleveland, but he also wasn't on a career trajectory to carry a team every year either. A lot of star players around the league have been obvious game changers early on. He's a very good player. I just hope his ego doesn't dwarf his production.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Oh, I dunno, does he want to be known as the guy who traded Lebron twice?

What was the 1st trade?

 

[TommyD4207]

What was the 1st trade?

Lebron James to Miami for 2 firsts, 2 2nds and a $15 million trade examption.

 

[RobertWeathers]

TO whom do they trade him? What team has (a) the cap space and (b) the picks/players to do the deal and (c) the talent to get past the GSW in the finals so as to make a short term rental of LBJ worth it?

Who knows. I make this $**** up as I go.

With the 2018 cap projecting at $103m which is a downgrade from expectations, that makes a trade more likely than LBJ bolting for FA and getting big $.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Lebron James to Miami for 2 firsts, 2 2nds and a $15 million trade examption.

It was a FA signing.....?

I don't consider that a trade.

 

[Bill Lee]

Here's the newest BS Podcast with Kevin Durant as the guest:

• Kevin Durant IV: Ask Kevin Anything Part 1

At the 4:30 mark the show kicks off with Bill asking KD about the trade. KD says Kyrie didn't ask for a trade because he didn't like LeBron, he said it happened since Kyrie is all about basketball and he didn't want to deal with the circus around whether LeBron is going to leave or not. He wants to play basketball, not deal with the drama.

He says the system in BOS is perfect for Kyrie. He pointed out that IT thrived in that system so Kyrie will too. He said Heyward and Horford will be making lots of plays for Kyrie. He also described Kyrie as "unguardable".

KD also beat up on Bill when he was feeling bad about IT being traded, like many here did. KD said there is no loyalty left in sports, in either direction (owners to players and vice versa).

Also, the previous podcast was an "emergency" podcast all about the trade.

• Kyrie-Isaiah Emergency Trade Podcast

 

[NashuaPats]

Indiana and Chicago seemed pretty hell bent on not making a trade with Boston (and Cleveland too for that matter) people should stop talking about it.

I don't think it was because they didn't want to trade with Boston, it was a timing issue. Because of salary cap rules, Boston needed to sign Heyward before making a trade. Indiana and Chicago didn't want to wait and potentially miss out on the offers on the table.

 

[Bill Lee]

I don't think it was because they didn't want to trade with Boston, it was a timing issue. Because of salary cap rules, Boston needed to sign Heyward before making a trade. Indiana and Chicago didn't want to wait and potentially miss out on the offers on the table.

Interestingly enough Danny said in his press conference that he's put the high pick(s) on the table before but those deals didn't go through. We don't really know if it was with IND or CHI or anyone else, or when, but the implication was that it was this summer.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Here's the newest BS Podcast with Kevin Durant as the guest:

• Kevin Durant IV: Ask Kevin Anything Part 1

At the 4:30 mark the show kicks off with Bill asking KD about the trade. KD says Kyrie didn't ask for a trade because he didn't like LeBron, he said it happened since Kyrie is all about basketball and he didn't want to deal with the circus around whether LeBron is going to leave or not. He wants to play basketball, not deal with the drama.

He says the system in BOS is perfect for Kyrie. He pointed out that IT thrived in that system so Kyrie will too. He said Heyward and Horford will be making lots of plays for Kyrie. He also described Kyrie as "unguardable".

KD also beat up on Bill when he was feeling bad about IT being traded, like many here did. KD said there is no loyalty left in sports, in either direction (owners to players and vice versa).

Also, the previous podcast was an "emergency" podcast all about the trade.

• Kyrie-Isaiah Emergency Trade Podcast

I totally buy what KD was dishing. I think he is spot-on.

Gotta control your destiny.

 

[ausbacker]

I totally buy what KD was dishing. I think he is spot-on.

Gotta control your destiny.

The world is governed by self interest. Loyalty is nice but I have no problem with players or teams trying to achieve their preferred outcome.

 

[TommyD4207]

It was a FA signing.....?

I don't consider that a trade.

I mean, you can consider it a trade or not, and there were lots of trade conveyances involved, but it was a sign-and-trade - James singes a max deal with Cleveland (6/110 at the time) and was traded to Miami for two firsts, two seconds and that giant trade exception to make the money work.

Gilbert did exactly what you're suggesting he do now, trade James while he can still get something for him.

In typical Cleveland fashion, they got nothing out of the deal, considering all the picks are now on other teams.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I mean, you can consider it a trade or not, and there were lots of trade conveyances involved, but it was a sign-and-trade - James singes a max deal with Cleveland (6/110 at the time) and was traded to Miami for two firsts, two seconds and that giant trade exception to make the money work.

Gilbert did exactly what you're suggesting he do now, trade James while he can still get something for him.

In typical Cleveland fashion, they got nothing out of the deal, considering all the picks are now on other teams.

After blowing the dust off my brain, you are 100% correct. By definition, it was a sign-n-trade.

How that kind of transaction happens during the season is a harder-than-hard task.

 

[DarrylS]

I don't agree with those who say the Cs were fleeced. Considering IT has a bad hip and a expiring contract, and Zizic is an unknown and Jae is a role player, he had to throw in the BKY pick as there was legit competition for KI from MIL

Danny overpaid for sure but in return he landed a clutch, 25ppg scorer who knows how to win championships.

I agree completely, but the complicit media cannot stop ****ting themselves about how well the Cavs made out with this trade, for the reasons you listed above .. I do not care for speculative future draft picks as some sort of barometer of how much this trade favored Cleveland...

 

[Froob]

It was a FA signing.....?

I don't consider that a trade.

It was not really a trade, was a sign & trade and allegedly it happened because Cleveland was going to file tampering charges and Miami didn't want to deal with that plus they got an extra year to LeBron's contract they couldn't have gotten without the S&T.

 

[Froob]

I agree completely, but the complicit media cannot stop ****ting themselves about how well the Cavs made out with this trade, for the reasons you listed above .. I do not care for speculative future draft picks as some sort of barometer of how much this trade favored Cleveland...

I'd grade it as A+ for Cleveland and B for Boston.

 

[RobertWeathers]

It was not really a trade, was a sign & trade and allegedly it happened because Cleveland was going to file tampering charges and Miami didn't want to deal with that plus they got an extra year to LeBron's contract they couldn't have gotten without the S&T.

Yea after I remembered it was technically a S&T for the reasons you cite, it was in spirit a FA signing as LBJ was a FA July 1.

 

[Froob]

I don't think it was because they didn't want to trade with Boston, it was a timing issue. Because of salary cap rules, Boston needed to sign Heyward before making a trade. Indiana and Chicago didn't want to wait and potentially miss out on the offers on the table.

Sounds like Pritchard was being a douche, everything I read sounds like neither of those two were willing to deal with Boston and Cleveland out of spite. They probably could have gotten Kyrie for Butler or George.

 

[BTTA]

After reading this thread, two things are clear:
1. Anyone with an absolute position on this trade is basing that certainty on assumptions about things that they either can't know or have yet to play out (what other teams were offering, the Nets pick value in 9 months, IT's future health, what Cleveland was willing to take, how KI will respond to Stevens, etc.)
2. The other certainty being expressed is KI's belief that the earth is flat.

 

[BTTA]

And I'll say that while I grieve the loss of a true warrior in IT, the current roster has me more enthusiastic about the coming season than it did a week ago:

• Brown
• Hayward
• Horford
• Irving
• Rozier
• Smart
• Tatum
• High ceiling newcomers
• Draft capital