How the Kyrie Irving trade affects the 2018 NBA Draft and beyond
By Max Holm
While the Kyrie Irving-Isaiah Thomas trade added a new dimension to the Eastern Conference, it also shook up the 2018 NBA Draft.
Tuesday night’s trade between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers was seismic. Sending shockwaves around the NBA, rarely have rivals (as the Celtics would describe the relationship) made a trade with one another. Immediately, Twitter and NBA analysts started looking at who got the better end of the trade.
Scorching hot takes cluttered Twitter and Kyrie Irving vs. Isaiah Thomas became the conversation of the day. Irving is under contract for at least two more years and still in his prime. Thomas can walk in 2018 or demand a massive contract that offseason.
The question about who won the trade, though, certainly hedges to the side of the Cavaliers. It’s too early to declare winners, but they look better for the short-term by adding Jae Crowder and Thomas. Even if Thomas is a drop-off from Irving, which is not necessarily true, Crowder provides the combo forward Cleveland has always lacked. And then there’s the pick.
How the picks play out
What makes this trade the most enticing, and makes conversations volatile, is the Brooklyn Nets pick. Danny Ainge has now traded both of his prized jewels from Brooklyn and it’s very risky. Brooklyn’s pick was going to be unprotected, which puts Cleveland and Boston in very different scenarios for next year’s draft.
For Cleveland, their eyes will be on the Nets’ win total. Landing in the top-five would lead to a great chance at young talent, which works two ways.
Landing the likes of a Michael Porter Jr. or Luka Doncic could lead the franchise into a new era should LeBron James leave. On the other side of things, maybe LeBron sees the talent and decides to stay and pass the torch to their new draft pick. Either way, Cavaliers fans will want to check out a lot of videos like this:
Cleveland’s future looked very bleak just a few weeks ago and now they could have a way forward with or without LeBron. Obviously Brooklyn could always surpass expectations, but they’ll likely remain in the bottom-10.
That’s good value with Crowder and worst-case they could find a way to bring back Thomas. They may even look to deal him and/or that 2018 pick, or some other variation, to upgrade for one more run at the Warriors. These new assets might see Kevin Love shopped.
Now for Boston, Kyrie Irving is great, but they’re putting a lot of faith in him, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. They could’ve had Lonzo Ball or Markelle Fultz, but passed. That also means they’re putting a lot of faith in either the Lakers or Kings. After all his accumulated picks, all Ainge has now is one more golden egg. The Lakers’ pick came in the trade with Philadelphia, but will only convert if Los Angeles finishes between second and fifth in the lottery. No guarantee that happens.
Conclusion
Things just got a lot riskier in Boston, while Cleveland hedged a strong bet on its future. The Lakers could be bad and that still doesn’t necessarily mean Boston prospers. Lakers fans surely want nothing more than to see Boston not get their pick. Ainge likely thinks the Lakers have a better chance of landing in that range than the Nets do of being a bottom-five team. You’d hope so given the trade he pulled off.
Next: NBA Trade Grades - Cavaliers send Kyrie Irving to Celtics
Still, this trade leaves a potential brighter future in Cleveland and a foggier one in Boston. Could Cleveland walk away from all this with its fourth No. 1 overall pick since 2011? It might just happen.