Cavs-Celtics swap is a win for all
It only seemed logical that at some point this offseason the Cleveland Cavaliers would end up trading Kyrie Irving after he made it pretty clear that he wanted to be the man on a team that he could call his own. And it only seemed logical that despite such a great stint with the Celtics that they would try to move Isaiah Thomas, as they do not seem willing to give him a max contract when the time comes.
On Monday the Celtics and the Cavaliers made a blockbuster trade, sending Irving to Boston for both Thomas and Jae Crowder. And that seems like the most perfect trade that could have been made for both teams.
They Both Won
Trades should be wins for both teams, but far too often they are not. This one, however, looks great for both teams.
The Cavaliers brought in a bonafide scorer in Thomas, who even earned some MVP consideration after his performance last year. They also brought in Crowder, whose a rugged defender that shoots three’s and can start or come off the bench and be effective. On top of that, they get a potential lottery pick that originally belonged to the woeful Brooklyn Nets.
The Celtics move on from Thomas, who could score but is a major liability on defense and had a significant hip injury this past summer and upgrade to Irving, who has two years left on his contract and is immensely talented himself and ready to be a franchise player. Irving is a tremendous offensive talent and is growing as a floor general. After having success as LeBron James’ sidekick and winning a title with him in Cleveland, he wants to be the top guy for a team and Boston is a place he can take over.
For the Celtics, this move is a smart move for a few financial reasons. Giving a max deal to a player like Thomas, who is great, but has limitations that may prevent him from truly being a franchise player. But while Irving might be a guy he would be willing to give a max deal to, the fact that his deal isn’t up for another two years helps. The Celtics will have enough cap space to go after a star like Anthony Davis next summer, a year before capitalizing on Irving’s Bird Rights and giving him a hefty contract.
It is also a show of how smart Danny Ainge has been with accumulating draft picks. The Celtics have plenty of young talent. Most teams would do anything they can to get a lottery pick, but the Celtics have plenty of young talent, and plenty of draft picks to go around. It was expendable currency for the Celtics at this point.
And for the Cavaliers, they get to keep some great scoring at the point guard position, but more importantly they move on from a point guard who wants to hold the ball and take all the shots. They can take advantage of LeBron James, and run their offense through him without anything getting in the game.
LeBron, LeBron, LeBron
Even at 32-years-old, James is the most gifted athletic freak in the NBA. He is still a guy who can carry a team to the finals and championships. He’s that good. Irving was a tremendous secondary weapon to him, but now Irving is in a different place in his career where he wants to be the top guy on his team. There is nothing wrong with that either. In this era where stars want to team up, we miss out on those big personalities going out to prove that they are capable of being the guy. It’s something all the greats wanted to do back in the day.
James went back to Cleveland partly because of Irving, and they worked well together, but now, besides his scoring prowess, it’s been pretty proven that his overall game doesn’t have much upside. Which also means Irving wants to shoot and score as much as possible. The Cavaliers needed to get the ball into James’ hands more than they did in those NBA Finals this summer. In some ways, Irving prevented that.
Thomas is a tremendous scorer as well, but James should be ecstatic about playing with him because there will be no question about who the offense should run through.
Lessons From Miami
In 2014 James was at his zenith, both mentally and physically. However, he was at odds with the Heat organization, unhappy with his support cast and had eyes on departing. He became a man in Miami and found his voice. He left south beach vowing never to be constricted by management and to guard his brand fiercely. Fast forward three years and those same complications that occurred in Miami have arisen in Cleveland.
Aside from not playing through James as much as they probably should have, one of the big reasons the Cavaliers have been beaten by the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals twice in the last three years is because of their lack of a bench and quality depth. Cleveland’s reserves did nothing to help the Cavaliers’ efforts against the Warriors this summer. Crowder is a man who can fix that. While Crowder can start, he will likely come off the bench in Cleveland. That’s a huge addition for the Cavaliers. Crowder is a three-and-D type of player, but is a big and physical guy who can do more. He’s not quite Andre Iguodala, who was an All-Star himself before going to Golden State, but Crowder can play that sort of a role as a starter coming off the bench that can lead a team for a few minutes while James is taking a breather.
That is the type of player who will help take some pressure off the top guys the Cavaliers have, and that will certainly appease James and continue to make the Cavaliers a championship threat, even if while in the process they made the Celtics stronger.
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