Deal features pomp, circumstances
Adam Silver stood proudly behind a podium in a posh Las Vegas hotel in July and announced rule changes designed to speed the last few minutes of NBA games.
As last week stretched into Wednesday night on the Celtics-Cleveland trade, the commissioner had to be thinking, “Why did I stop there?”
Alas, there are no altera- tions forthcoming in the deal process. Players will still have a week to report for a physical — an allowance even more important in the offseason when the principals could be off doing promotional appearances in some far-off land — and there will still be a day beyond that for a team to examine the results of said physical.
The uncertainty shown by the Cavaliers toward Isaiah Thomas’ fitness before finally engaging the Celtics to alter the transaction was problematic for those trying to follow the developments while seeking to squeeze in days of decompression in an ever-shrinking NBA offseason (including Celts assistant GM Mike Zarren, who tweeted that he was torn between wanting to start the season and needing time to catch his breath). But now that the dust has finally and completely and we-really-mean-itthis-time settled, we can look at the deal for what it’s worth. Celtics fans have had time to deal at least in part with the losses of Thomas and Jae Crowder, two players they had taken to heart.
What the move shows us is that the respective circumstances are always the judge, and that a trade doesn’t have to measure up even on the scales of justice for it to be worthwhile for each club.
Taken in a vacuum, Thomas, Crowder, Ante Zizic, a 2020 second-round pick from Miami and (trumpets) the 2018 unprotected first-round pick from Brooklyn are more than Kyrie Irving (who will be introduced at a press conference today at 11 a.m.).
But … circumstances. The Celtics were willing to overspend to get the best single player in the deal (leaving aside for the moment that the Nets pick could turn into a generational big man). They got three years younger in the IrvingThomas swap, and they avoided the possibility of losing Thomas for nothing next summer when the king of the fourth quarter will become the prized prince of the free agent market. The Celts weren’t going to give him a max contract, and while some league execs question whether anyone will, it would have been a messy time with that issue and the drafting of yet another young talent, assuming the C’s hadn’t traded the pick by next February’s deadline.
The Cavaliers had their circumstances to consider, too, as they made a major alteration to a three-time defending Eastern Conference champion. They had room to wonder whether Irving, having stated his desire to depart, would show up for training camp. And, even if he did, what about the soap opera-worthy drama of a forced Kyrie-LeBron James relationship?
Getting Thomas, whenever he is ready to play, released that pressure, and it should keep the Cavs competitive for a championship — something few moves involving Irving would have allowed. Crowder could also play a major role in Cleveland, particularly with his defensive ability, should another Finals with Golden State be in the offing.
And remember the hopes the Celtics had that a large, aggressive and very young Zizic could develop into an inside beast? Said hopes now belong to the Cavs.
From the start, however, the Nets pick was the ace in the deal for Cleveland. It could be used to acquire a key piece by February, but more importantly it speaks to LeBron and more circumstances. The pick is a nice down payment on a rebuilding project should James leave town — again — at the end of this season.
On the other hand, the Boston reconstruction begun in 2013 is far along in its process, needing just finishing pieces and the settling of some younger parts of the foundation. Chemistry is still an issue, because, hey, a molecule here and a molecule there can truly alter the compound.
But the bottom line is that this is the kind of deal for which Danny Ainge has long searched. When he saw Oklahoma City make James Harden available because it didn’t believe it could resign him or when Carmelo Anthony dribbled his way out of Denver, Ainge had always wanted to have the necessary currency to step in and make a winning offer. It’s why, according to his peers, he was so reticent to part with key assets.
Ainge is betting now that Kyrie Irving will be not only the talent but the leader that makes Boston even greater than the sum of its fairly formidable parts. However it works out — for better or worse, for Finals appearance or continued Eastern Conference bridesmaid status — this is on Ainge.
Meanwhile, there are changes for Celtics followers. In addition to setting their expectations higher, they will no longer be lighting candles in prayer for Nets losses; they will now be setting up distribution centers to gather and send karma south down Interstate 95. They will look for common ground and form a basketball bond with the same people they’ve been tormenting these last four years.
“Brooklyn, Boston … both begin with a ‘B.’ We’re practically family.”
“We both hate LeBron, right?”
All that Boston-Brooklyn bad blood is just another victim of circumstances.