Who won the blockbuster Cavs – Celtics trade?
By Beto Tirado
I say Celtics. On paper it seems like Cleveland won.
All over the internet you can see the posts and stats being thrown around stating that IT4 and Uncle Drew are the same players…statistically, at least, offensively, they match up evenly in most categories. Defensively, statistically, not much difference either. So they didn’t lose much, and added Jae Crowder, Zizic, and the coveted BK 2018 pick.
You can say this trade was Kyrie Irving for Isaiah Thomas.
That’s not the whole story. Isaiah Thomas is a tremendous talent. As a smaller NBA guard, he has defied gravity and projections and has become a 2 time all-star, and let the lead in scoring for parts of last season, finishing third overall and first in the East. His heroics in the playoffs, after absorbing the loss of his younger sister, is legendary and garners much respect. He has endeared himself to Celtics fans forever for his heart, grit, and toughness.
He is not Kyrie.
Jae Crowder was a shrewd pick up in the Rondo trade. A great role player, has one of the best contracts in the NBA for the value he provides. Also, another blue-collar player, gritty, chip-on-my-shoulder type of guy.
Ante Zizic, although unknown here, is a solid big, with a good shooting touch, and gritty, tough style of play.
There is a theme here. Ainge built the roster to compete in the East. And they could compete with a good portion of the west with that toughness and grit. But it wasn’t a roster built to take on the top teams in the league.
Top 5 teams hurt the Celtics. The talent gap was too wide. Isaiah can score on almost anybody in the 4th quarter. He won a lot of close games. A lot of those games were close because he is such a defensive liability. With the best perimeter stopper in the NBA gone to Detroit, the Celtics were going to get worse with IT on the floor, despite his heroics.
You can say this trade was Kyrie Irving for Isaiah Thomas.
But Cleveland made a bold move to purchase “Lebron to LA” insurance, and this trade was much more about being ready in case he bolts to the left coast after this year. They get IT to stay with Love if Lebron bolts, which is a great pick and roll combination.
IT was one of the league leaders in points per possession off pick and rolls as the ball handler. You add Crowder, and they have the crew intact to be a gritty, competitive team even if Lebron is gone.
But he’s not Kyrie. When teams could defend the pick and roll…when teams had a scoring pg, the Celtics suffered. When teams could defend the pick and roll, and contain IT’s drives…the Celtics suffered. Not just the upper echelon teams. Milwuakee’s length gave them many problems.
All that is gone now, with Kyrie. Best Iso player in the league.
The Celtics, likewise, made a move to be able to compete for many years, coinciding with the decline of James. Ainge has Kyrie, Tatum, and Brown and Hayward for the foreseeable future. Brown and Tatum are young enough that they don’t need to be the face of a franchise.
Horford is and always has been the quiet leader that can plug in all the holes on offense and defense, but won’t be the face of the team. The talent level, however, is through the roof. These guys are now built to be a top 5 team in the league, East or West, for many years.
You can say this trade was Kyrie Irving for Isaiah Thomas.
But looking towards the future, which is what this trade was about, even with the BK pick going to Cleveland, and potentially giving them another shot at number 1 pick in 2018, the Celtics are on top.
