Well, I’ll concede your first point, Brent. Kyrie is bad on defense, whereas IT just has nothing to offer (except for the occasional steal from bad ball handlers who foolishly put the ball on the floor near him, where he can grab it).
So a straight-up trade of Kyrie for IT would benefit the Celtics, slightly.
What distorts the trade is your suggestion of offering two pretty darned good 2-way players along with IT. It’s not that it leaves Boston without defense on the starting 5. It’s that it weakens Boston’s defense on the bench, big-time.
You don’t contend for championships with a weak bench. And the slight upgrade on the starting 5 from switching out IT and switching in Kyrie isn’t nearly enough to make up for seriously weakening Boston’s bench.
Cleveland would find itself with a meaningless downgrade in defense on its starting 5 and a much strengthened defensive presence on its bench. It’s a terrific trade for Cleveland if they can swing it.
Boston should run, not walk, away from your suggestion.