Finally, it happened: The Cavaliers have finalized a deal that will send Kyrie Irving to the Celtics for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, the Nets’ unprotected 2018 first-round pick, and a 2020 second-rounder, according to ESPN. The deal was completed after a week of news reports, gossip about locker room chemistry, and concerns about Thomas’s injured hip. In the end, all that was added to consummate the deal was a second-round pick. Thus concludes the wildest episode of a soap opera NBA offseason.
Koby Altman may be the latest person to call himself Cleveland Cavaliers general manager—the fourth in the past 12 years since Dan Gilbert bought the team—but multiple sources have told me that the Cavs owner was the one calling the shots on the trade that sent Irving to Boston, and he’s the one dealing with the fallout. Gilbert’s dysfunctional ways are old news. Gilbert himself joked during Altman’s introductory presser that his GMs have four-year presidential terms. “A state of organizational chaos is Gilbert’s M.O.,” one executive told me. “Gilbert thinks he’s the protagonist in the story of the Cavaliers, when, in reality, he’s the antagonist.”
Gilbert’s fingerprints were all over the drama that’s unfolded over the past week. Thomas’s health is what held up the deal, but according to multiple league sources with knowledge of Cleveland’s thought process, the unprotected Nets pick and Crowder were the pieces that Cleveland valued the most—those were the assets that got the deal done, not Thomas. The perception of the trade was that the Cavaliers and Celtics swapped franchise point guards, but for the Cleveland front office (and its owner), Thomas was the icing, not the cake.
This might come as a surprise to anyone who watched Thomas score 28.9 points per game on a ridiculously efficient 1.13 points per possession last season, earning him second-team All-NBA honors. But the Celtics wouldn’t have sweetened the pot with the Nets pick and Crowder if Thomas were 100 percent healthy, according to a source with knowledge of Boston’s thinking, nor could Cleveland have demanded such a package. Thomas’s injury was priced into the deal, in the sense that he didn’t have full value.
Thomas’s incredible 2016–17 season ended in the Eastern Conference finals when he reaggravated a right femoral-acetabular impingement with a labral tear. Thomas initially hurt himself in March, when Karl-Anthony Towns fell on him in a game against the Timberwolves, and then continued to play until he “couldn't play anymore,” as he told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski in a Tuesday interview. He is still recovering from the injury, though he should be able to return at some point during the season. The question is when.
The answer certainly matters to some members of the Cavaliers organization, namely LeBron James and head coach Ty Lue. One league source with an understanding of Cleveland’s situation told me that as news spread throughout the organization that Thomas could miss time deep into the upcoming season, James and Lue cooled on the deal. According to the same source, both the Cavs’ franchise player and their head coach were apparently told by upper management that Thomas and Crowder were being brought in to help the team compete with the Warriors now.
Woj wrote earlier this week that the Cavaliers could potentially say Boston “undersold” them on how injured Thomas was. It’s possible Cleveland came to this realization after having Thomas in for a physical. That’s despite the fact both organizations shared medical information prior to the trade agreement (as Woj reported, and multiple sources confirmed to me). If this is true, it’s indicative of the unique position the Cavaliers find themselves in. LeBron’s commitment to the team, or lack thereof, is shaping Cleveland’s personnel decisions. The Cavs have to keep him relatively happy, but can’t sell the farm in order to do so.
Multiple sources told me that Gilbert is operating under the assumption that LeBron will opt out of his contract next summer and leave Cleveland. So Gilbert and Altman targeted Irving trade packages that set up the franchise for the post-LeBron era, rather than the instant-gratification deals they’ve made over the past three years (e.g., trading first-rounders for Channing Frye or Kyle Korver). A front-office executive from another team inquiring about Irving told me that knowing LeBron was staying in Cleveland would have changed what the Cavs asked for in return for Kyrie. Though a wide range of league sources believe LeBron is LeGone, it’s not certain. Regardless, Cleveland doesn’t want to be caught flat-footed. The variety of assets included in Boston’s Irving offer allowed Cleveland to be competitive in 2017–18 while preparing for life after LeBron. Cleveland might have considered Thomas the third-most valuable incoming asset, but the team still wanted a healthy version of him.
Gilbert criticized the Indiana Pacers for the Victor Oladipo–and–Domantas Sabonis package they accepted for Paul George, reflecting a sentiment held by much of the public back in July. Now, he’s embroiled in his own blockbuster-trade controversy, fielding criticisms that could have dire ramifications. Multiple sources with knowledge of Gilbert’s mind-set believe the Cavs owner cares deeply about how the deal will be seen today and in the future, both internally and across the league—Thomas’s health and a less enthusiastic James and Lue had Gilbert shook.
After all, the Cavaliers likely had other trade opportunities on the table before agreeing to the Boston package, and one of those could’ve been revived with a reversal. Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro reported on August 23 that the Bucks offered Malcolm Brogdon, Khris Middleton, and a first-rounder for Irving (ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported on Wednesday that the Bucks were “on the fringes” if the Celtics’ Irving deal had fallen apart). Or, as multiple sources suggested, the Cavs could have gone the LeBron-friendly route, dealing Irving to the Suns for Klutch Sports client Eric Bledsoe and a versatile wing such as Josh Jackson or T.J. Warren. League sources have consistently stated that the Suns wouldn’t include Jackson, however.
It’s worth noting that, for all the concern over Thomas’s hip, Brogdon, Middleton, and Bledsoe would come with their own risks. In college, Brogdon had surgery to fuse a bone in his left foot, which multiple front-office league sources have indicated drew medical red flags prior to the 2016 draft and could cause issues in the future. Middleton played only 29 regular-season games last season after preseason hamstring surgery. Bledsoe has played more than 70 games just three times in his seven-year career. And while we’re talking about health, Irving has had two injury-shortened seasons. Thomas might be hurt, but the medical histories of the reported trade alternatives aren’t exactly encouraging, either.
As recently as this Tuesday morning, the Celtics had had only nominal contact with the Cavaliers, according to multiple sources. Cleveland had not asked the Celtics to add anything to the trade, despite Woj’s previous reports. On Tuesday evening, Woj reported that the Cavs had engaged with the Celtics to “find a solution,” possibly including a late first- or a second-rounder instead of Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown. Then on Wednesday, Woj said on SportsCenter that Cleveland would not ask for anything extra to complete the trade.
Now that the deal is done, Gilbert won’t have to worry about looking like Kevin Pritchard. Altman, who was hired as David Griffin’s replacement, deserves immense credit for landing a massive trade package for Irving. Crowder is the two-way player Cleveland has desperately lacked, and he’s locked up on a cheap contract with three years and only $22 million left. Even if the Nets pick isn’t in the top five, it could land the Cavs a quality prospect in the top 10 or be used as a trade asset. Zizic is a young, hard-nosed big who could be a long-term starter.
Thomas truly is the bonus of the deal, and its biggest question mark. The Little Guy told Wojnarowski he's “not damaged” and will return “the same player again." If his hip injury is manageable, he’ll be the cake’s icing, sprinkles, and the topper. Cleveland should be happy with the return.
But the leaked reports are especially unusual. The consensus from the 15 or so executives and agents I’ve communicated with over the past week is that it’s industry standard for deals to be agreed upon before the mandatory physical, but an agreement doesn't mean a trade is 100 percent finalized. For example, in 2009, the Hornets traded Tyson Chandler to the Thunder. Two days later, Oklahoma City’s team doctor “determined that the risk of reinjury was too great to give Chandler a clean bill of health,” per ESPN, and advised the team to rescind the trade. They did. Chandler went back to the Hornets.
The difference with Thomas is everything was out in the open. One agent—who requested that his player’s name and the teams involved remain anonymous—told me that when one of his high-profile clients was traded, he couldn’t complete the physical because of a minor injury. The acquiring team took 24 hours to accept the risk, acquiring the player without a physical. They did. The deal went through. “Thankfully, it didn’t get out,” said the agent. “[The story] would have taken on a life of its own.”
That’s precisely what happened with Thomas, and we’ve seen how it snowballed. After the trade was announced last Tuesday, I wrote about how the deal was effectively a win-win for both teams. It was so rare, and so nice, to see two top teams in the same conference make a deal that made sense for both sides. A week later, we’re right back where we started, but the way most people see the deal has changed.
There’s now a negative perception of Thomas—that he’s damaged goods as he enters an important contract year. But he can erase those fears with a productive and healthy season. The Cavaliers have become a team that, as one source put it, you don’t want to touch with a 10-foot pole given the way they’ve handled this situation. Meanwhile, the Celtics traded their team centerpiece who just months ago won the hearts of an entire fan base, playing a playoff game the day after his sister died.
If the Cavaliers had stepped away from the trade, Boston would’ve gotten back a betrayed Thomas and Crowder, the latter already decked out with Cavs gear. It’s incredibly difficult to deal an injured player, which is why it doesn’t happen often, but maybe the NBA needs to think about finding a better way to handle situations like this one in the future.
After agreeing to the trade on Tuesday, August 22, the Cavaliers and Celtics had until 10 a.m. on Thursday, August 31, to rule whether the players had passed their physicals. Taking nine days to finalize a trade feels archaic. During the season, traded players must report within 48 hours of a trade. As the league’s transactional slate has gotten more hectic and extended deeper into the offseason, maybe the way deals are consummated needs to be altered somehow. It would be hard to imagine the league being OK with this same situation playing itself out over again.
This piece was updated after publication with additional information.
