Uncle Drew Goes to Boston

Kyrie Irving finally got his wish. Last night, the Cavaliers traded the four-time NBA All-Star to the Boston Celtics. In return, the Cavaliers received All-Star Isaiah Thomas, along with Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and a first-rounder from Brooklyn (another piece of the worst trade in NBA history.) The news in July that Irving wanted out of The Land sent shock waves across the NBA landscape. After the trade request was made public, teams such as the Spurs, Suns, and Timberwolves were reportedly interested in Irving’s services. But in the end, it was the team that had the best record in the Eastern Conference that gave up pieces to get Uncle Drew. So at the end of the day, who won the trade?
Winners:
Danny Ainge
The man who has been hesitant to pull the trigger on trades through the years finally made the big one. Boston was long thought before the offseason to have the pieces to make deals with big name players. While they signed Gordon Hayward in free agency, they missed on guys such as Paul George and Jimmy Butler. But then Kyrie Irving became available. When you start to compare Irving and Thomas, Irving surely has an edge on the 28 year old out of Washington. Kyrie’s defense is nothing to write home about, but Thomas may be the worst defender in the NBA. He also brings championship pedigree to a Celtics team that is short on playoff experience. There is also the issue of IT’s hip issues. Danny Ainge considered all of these factors and finally decided to pull the trigger to get a top 15 NBA player with no current injury issues. Stock up for Ainge after upgrading the Celtics with addition of Kyrie.
Kyrie Irving
Irving wanted to be the man, but he also wanted to do it on a team with a chance to win. He could not have found a better situation than Boston. No offense at all to Gordon Heyward, but Kyrie is now the man in Boston. He’ll get to lead a team that not only has the potential to win now, but later on as well. The Celtics are still very young with guys like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart. To go along the young talent, Irving gets to play along one of the most productive players in the league in Hayward. Not to mention Al Horford, who is one of the most versatile and productive big men in the game. While a lot can be said for playing with LeBron James, Kyrie wound up in the best situation possible.
Koby Altman
Cleveland has to face the facts. There is a better chance that LeBron leaves next summer than not and the new Cavs’ general manager knows that. That’s why no matter what Kyrie wanted, Cleveland had to get a young piece in return to build for the future. They’ve done exactly that in getting the Brooklyn pick. The Nets still have one of the worst rosters in the league (Sorry Nets’ fans, D’Angelo Russell isn’t leading you to the playoffs.) So the pick coming from Boston via Brooklyn is one that is probably going to be top five. And that is a great pickup for the Cavaliers. It possibly gives them a Marvin Bagley or Michael Porter Jr to build around for the future. It also gives them a slight better chance to retain LeBron past this year.
Losers:
Ante Zizic
No offense to Ty Lue at all, but Brad Stevens is a top three coach in the league. Next to Pop in San Antonio, Stevens is one of the best at developing young talent. Zizic was picked by the Celtics in the first round in 2016 and was thought to have loads of potential in Boston. He played in Europe this past season and he was set to come back to Boston with the departure of Kelly Olynyk. But, with Zizic on the way to Cleveland, he will lose a couple of things. Not getting to work under Stevens is something that may hurt him down the road. Stevens has done great things already with guys like Olynyk, Avery Bradley, and Jae Crowder. With Zizic’s potential, it would have been a safe bet to say that Stevens could have maximized it. Getting to work with Horford would have done wonders for Zizic as well. Instead, he will be working with Tristan Thompson, who is an entirely different big man than Horford.
Eastern Conference
Look, I think both teams got a nice deal in this trade, but Boston upgraded for a superstar. Cleveland resolved their Kyrie problem and secured a future draft pick. While both teams won the trade, the fact remains that no matter who the East sends to the conference finals, the Warriors are still the unquestioned best team in the league. That’s going to be the case for several more years. However, the exciting part for the East will end after the conference finals. The Warriors will continue to dominate whoever comes out of the other conference. So in that case, the East continues to be a loser.
