Bruce Jenkins:
Kyrie Irving is sent from Cleveland to Boston, with fellow guard Isaiah Thomas to join forces with LeBron James and the Cavs.
The NBA makes a point of scheduling attractive matchups at all the best times, and it’s no accident that the two best teams in the Eastern Conference, Cleveland and Boston, will open the season against each other Oct. 17.
That game just became twice as appealing, thanks to Tuesday’s trade that sent Kyrie Irving from the Cavaliers to the Celtics for Isaiah Thomas, forward Jae Crowder, center Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets’ first-round pick in the 2018 draft.
It’s that last bit of information that shocked many observers. Considering the Cavaliers’ recent difficulty in getting any kind of a deal done, they’ve scored heavily with Thomas and Crowder. To get that draft pick, which could wind up being No. 1 overall, the Cavaliers appear to be a clear winner in the deal. The pick is unprotected, and unless the Nets make a dramatic recovery from the doldrums this season, the Cavaliers are likely to acquire one of the top players if
they keep the pick.
Irving has to be delighted, about to become the Celtics’ point guard alongside Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Morris and Al Horford, with Marcus Smart and this year’s No. 1 draft pick, Jayson Tatum, coming off the bench. Irving’s star power remains at the height of relevance, raising the distinct possibility of Irving and LeBron James meeting in the Eastern finals after their inability to resolve their interpersonal issues culminated in the trade.
In giving up Crowder, the Celtics lost their primary defender on James, but Morris, acquired from Detroit in the Avery Bradley deal, has been effective against LeBron as well.
Meanwhile, Thomas takes Irving’s position as the Cavaliers’ point guard. The two are similar in that both like the ball in their hands and look to score more often than traditional types at that position. Neither has any kind of reputation defensively. But Thomas is pure excitement when he’s on; considering that Irving wanted no part of staying in Cleveland, the Cavs’ fans have to be encouraged that he has been replaced by a fellow AllStar.
Zizic, a 7-foot, 240-pound center from Croatia, could be a sleeper in the deal. The Celtics made him the 23rd overall pick in 2016, and until now, he has chosen to stay in Europe to refine his game. But he already had announced his intentions to join the NBA, and the Cavaliers will find out whether he’s prepared to join their rotation off the bench.
From the Warriors’ standpoint — and it always comes back to Golden State, no matter what happens around the league — the outlook hasn’t changed significantly. Cleveland has every intention of confronting the Warriors in the Finals for the fourth straight year, and James clearly has a reputable cast with Thomas joining Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith, Kyle Korver and Iman Shumpert. The Celtics could be even better than last season, when they earned the conference’s No. 1 seed, and Irving seems to be at his best against the Warriors.
Nobody’s ready to say either team has the goods to unseat Golden State in its quest for a third title in four years. But the long-scorned Eastern Conference now has a sizzling rivalry to monitor all season. The great LeBron might still be L.A.bound next season, but it seems he’s been given some pretty good reasons to stay in Cleveland.