This wasn't supposed to happen. The Celtics are on a 3-game losing streak and take on a Cavaliers crew that has won three games in a row. The Cavs sit in sixth place in the East with an 8-7 record, while Boston holds the fourth spot with an 8-6 record.
The Cavaliers Collin Sexton, Larry Nance, Taurean Prince and Jarret Allen are all in Cleveland, at least in part, as a result of the Kyrie Irving-to-Boston trade. Sexton was drafted eighth-overall by Cleveland in the 2018 NBA draft using the Nets' first-round pick owned by the Celtics. Nance, Prince and Allen arrived directly, and indirectly, via the Cavs later trade of Isaiah Thomas to the Lakers. The Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto answered a few questions on the Irving deal between the Celtics and Cavs:
Q: How can you say you’d rather have Sexton over Irving?
A: Irving has had three knee surgeries. He’s had shoulder surgery. Over the last three seasons, he missed an average of 30 games per year. He’s missed 8-of-17 games this season. He gets hurt – a lot. And there also are his attitude issues.
Q: Didn’t Gilbert tell you that Altman “killed it” with the Irving trade?
A: He said that in the summer of 2019. You decide. But Nance and Sexton for Irving (who was ready to leave)? Hard to imagine them doing much better.
So in the end, the Boston Celtics got nothing in return when Kyrie departed to Brooklyn from Boston in free agency, but the Cavaliers still have Sexton and Nance, both of whom should see action. The duo accounts for roughly 38 points, nine rebounds and nine assists per game for the season. Let's hope the remains of that unfortunate deal don't add to the Celtics losing streak this evening.
https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2021/01/a-few-years-ago-kyrie-irving-was-traded-how-does-it-look-now-terrys-talkin-cavs.html
The Celtics got cap space when Kyrie left for Brooklyn that they used on Kemba Walker. Yes it was a sign and trade for Terry Rozier, but Rozier alone could not be traded for Kemba without Boston also having cap space to absorb his new 30+ million deal.
ReplyDeleteTo me, Irving's time in Boston will always go down as a trade that never should have happened even though Ainge was doing what almost any GM would have agreed upon in a HEARTBEAT at the time. It won't go down as him leaving us in the lurch and the C's getting nothing. He got the team Kemba Walker via cap space. With all his erratic behavior and injuries since, I think the majority of the fanbase is more than happy with the swap. Despite Walker being older and having injury concerns of his own, he's a better teammate, leader and fit with the organization.
Kemba never stops smiling. Great attitude. And he supplies a lot of what Kyrie did without the drama. Yes, in the end, it ended fairly well for Bostom. Anige tried hard with the Irving deal. No one knew how he would act up.
DeleteVery true on Kemba. We got something at least from Kyrie's defection and that was Mr. Walker.
DeleteI know a lot of Celtics fans (myself included) who disliked Irving's game before the '17 trade, thought he was at the very least an uncomfortable and self-absorbed person to be adding to what seemed like a very selfless fun locker room at the time. A culture Thomas helped create. That being said, 90% of these fans (myself included) also said you have to do that deal, it is a superstar league, the '18 Nets pick might not be top 10 (let alone top 5), it was a weak draft outside the top 3, and Isaiah was older, injured and a horrible defender. Oh well.