5 reasons the Kyrie Irving-Isaiah Thomas trade makes sense for the Cavs and Celtics

Did you think the Cavaliers would really trade Kyrie Irving to their biggest rival? Did you think the Celtics would really trade Isaiah Thomas (and the Nets’ first-rounder!) a year after the magical season he had?

Probably not at first glance, but that’s exactly what happened. Kyrie Irving is on the Boston Celtics now and Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and the Nets’ prized unprotected 2018 first-rounder are now members of LeBron James’ Cavaliers.

These teams appear to be unlikely trade partners on the surface. Boston was not on Irving’s original list of preferred destinations, and the Cavaliers trading their second-best player to their top rivals in the East is not something most teams would do.

But peel back the layers a bit, and this trade makes perfect sense for both teams. It was always the most sensible Kyrie Irving trade, and it was hiding in plain sight.

Here’s why.

Thanks to their bounty of picks from the Nets, the Celtics were afforded the luxury to operate on two fronts. They could try to compete in the present while saving their powder for a post-LeBron East world. The one (good) problem they ran into was that Isaiah Thomas’ contract didn’t line up with their ultimate plans.

Nobody — not even the Celtics — foresaw the dominant offensive season Thomas put together last year. Even if they expected him to flourish away from tricky situations in Sacramento and Phoenix, they couldn’t have expected him to average nearly 30 points a game while invigorating the Celtics’ crowd like few other legends in their storied history.

That was very cool for them! It also presented an awkward situation with Thomas entering his free-agent year next year.

Thomas understandably wanted the Celtics to back up the Brinks trucks, considering he starred on a paltry (by NBA standards) $6.3 million salary next year. Given Thomas’ age (he’ll be 29 next summer) and the Celtics’ desires to fight on multiple fronts, a lucrative new deal for Thomas offered a degree of uncertainty.

(We’ll leave it at that, because reasonable people can disagree about whether Thomas would have aged well with Boston. Tim Cato explained why not. Tom Ziller argued the opposite).

But with this trade, Boston transferred that dilemma onto the Cavaliers and received a younger and (arguably) better player with more cost control and upside. Irving is three years Thomas’ junior while under contract for one more season, prying Boston’s present window open one more year — especially important given LeBron’s impending free agency.

The cost is heavy: Brooklyn’s unprotected first-rounder, plus an excellent rotation player in Jae Crowder. But the Celtics offset the loss of Crowder by acquiring Marcus Morris from Detroit, not to mention Gordon Hayward in free agency. The Nets’ pick is a tremendous asset, but with Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and another high lottery pick coming from either the Lakers in 2018 (if they finish between picks No. 2 and 5) or the Kings in 2019 (essentially top 1 protected), the Celtics’ future track is still robust.

Ultimately, Boston brought in two All-Stars this summer, opened their short-term window for an extra season to pounce if LeBron bolts Cleveland, and kept their long-term future bright. Mission accomplished on all fronts.

We can debate whether Thomas is a better player than Irving until the cows come home, but he certainly had a better season last year. Maybe Irving is the one you’d rather have taking the shot in a tie game in a Game 7, but Thomas is more than a suitable fill-in. He’ll also get along with LeBron far better than Irving did, because few could get along any worse.

Plus, the Cavaliers shored up a massive weakness in acquiring Crowder in the deal. Crowder is a burly defender who harasses all the top wing players and hits 40 percent of his threes. He can handle all the dirty work for LeBron, much like Shane Battier once did when LeBron played for the Heat. That’s a critical role that has remained unfulfilled during James’ second Cavaliers tenure, save for the rare moments when Richard Jefferson’s legs cooperated.

That’s exactly the kind of player the Cavaliers need to give themselves a shot to defend the Warriors. Now, they have it in Crowder without losing much, if anything, in swapping Thomas and Irving.

The Nets’ 2018 No. 1 pick is the best non-player asset in the NBA because of how hopeless that situation is. The 2018 class is loaded, especially since Marvin Bagley reclassified. That’s a nice way to reboot the franchise if James leaves for greener pastures again.

He’s The Man on a really good team, which is exactly what he yearned for in asking to escape LeBron’s shadow. Gordon Hayward may be a better all-around player, and Al Horford is a terrific fill-in-the-gaps guy, but this is Irving’s offensive show. There weren’t any other realistic trade destinations that checked all his boxes. (The Spurs didn’t have enough to trade.)

Had Irving gone elsewhere, he might have been doomed to individual glory on teams with no chance of winning a title. The Celtics, though, offer Irving the chance to go deep into the playoffs with the offense on his shoulders. They have an ace defensive backcourt partner in Marcus Smart to take the tough guard assignments. They have a complementary perimeter scorer in Hayward, the league’s best screen-setting big man in Horford, and Brad Stevens’ wonderful motion offense to deliver open shot after open shot.

Irving couldn’t have asked for any more once his trade request went public.

This is an oversimplification — Fear the Sword is now thrilled with the return they received, while Celtics Blog seems happy to solve the Isaiah dilemma — but it’s telling that their first reaction to the rumor was negative.

When both sides have reasons to be upset about a trade, it’s probably a good one.