Kyrie Irving to Celtics? Everything you need to know about this NBA blockbuster

Kyrie Irving is still headed to the Boston Celtics, Isaiah Thomas is still bound for Cleveland, and an extra 2020 second-round pick is all it took to finally make it happen. The summer blockbuster that had stalled after the Cavaliers requested more compensation for Thomas after receiving the results of his physical is finally complete.

It has been more than a week since news broke about the trade, one of the most dramatic reshapings of a conference’s power structure we’ve seen in years. At first, the move stunned us, as anything of this magnitude would. Before long, it turned into a bizarre ticking clock toward a seemingly inevitable conclusion.

The Kyrie Irving for Isaiah Thomas trade is in danger of being voided after Thomas’ physical in Cleveland on Friday caused the Cavs to reconsider the deal. Thomas’ hip injury is what’s causing the trouble, and that’s what kept him out of the last two-and-a-half Eastern Conference Finals games against the Cavs in May.

The injury didn’t start there, though. It was the second time he aggravated a pre-existing injury that began two months earlier in a regular season game against the Timberwolves, Thomas said. He sat the next two regular season games. He hurt his hip again in Game 6 of the conference semifinals, but played through it.

The Cavaliers and Celtics plan to have a phone conversation on Saturday to discuss the Kyrie Irving trade for Isaiah Thomas that’s in jeopardy of being voided following Thomas’ physical in Cleveland on Friday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Cavs fear Thomas may miss significant time this season due to a hip injury he suffered during the conference finals against the Cavs, according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman.

The Cavs have until Thursday to make their decision about the trade, according to Woj, but that doesn’t mean Irving and Thomas won’t inevitably swap teams. Cleveland and Boston can renegotiate the trade if the Cavs are still interested. The Celtics are sitting on a pile of draft picks that could sweeten the deal for Cleveland.

The Kyrie Irving-Isaiah Thomas trade has dominated NBA discussion since it went down on the evening of Aug. 22. Many recurring questions surrounding the trade have popped up:

“What is it worth it for both teams?”

Regardless whether Iman Shumpert has requested a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers, it does seem like the seventh-year forward is expendable. If the Cavaliers do deal him before the season starts, especially after adding Jae Crowder, there’s no need to act surprised.

According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, who attributes the report to “multiple league sources,” Shumpert did request a trade from Cleveland after the season. Shortly thereafter, The Vertical’s Shams Charania tweeted that Shumpert has not requested a trade but has been “actively shopped” by Cleveland since free agency began.

Caron Butler and Ray Allen most recently waded into the “loyalty” conversation, one that has sprung up in the wake of Isaiah Thomas being traded for Kyrie Irving despite being a beloved Boston fan favorite. Butler posted this on his Instagram, which is actually the text from a viral tweet sent out Tuesday night:

Butler added this caption to it:

It was Kenny Smith who ultimately brought up a side of the Isaiah Thomas trade that very few have in the days following Boston’s blockbuster deal. From the moment the Cavaliers and Celtics agreed to a deal involving Thomas and Kyrie Irving, fans have worried about how it affects the teams. That’s no surprise — a fan’s priority usually rests on teams before players.

Here’s what Smith said during an NBA TV interview, bringing up Thomas’ side. It’s different than the tributes and farewells sent Thomas’ way by fans, which was certainly heartfelt but treated his departure as an inevitability, not a choice that was made.

Listen to the podcast here!

Kyrie Irving is on the Boston Celtics. Isaiah Thomas is on the Cleveland Cavaliers. The two best teams in the East just traded their stars for each other.

The Milwaukee Bucks were, or were not, close to trading for Kyrie Irving, or not trading for Kyrie Irving, this offseason, a moment that has now closed after the Cleveland Cavaliers dealt Irving to the Boston Celtics. If nothing else, it’s a fascinating thought experiment as we come down from a brief crescendo to the offseason doldrums.

Phoenix-area radio host John Gambadoro, who has broken Suns news before and has connections with that team’s front office, says Milwaukee offered Khris Middleton, Malcolm Brogdon, and a first-round pick for Irving. Gambadoro has good sourcing within the Suns front office, and there’s no agenda Phoenix would be pushing with that scoop.

Kyrie Irving was traded to the Celtics for Isaiah Thomas just one month after Irving let the front office in Cleveland know he no longer wanted to play beside LeBron James. After three straight trips to the NBA Finals, and one remarkable championship, Irving wanted to break free of James’ shadow.

There were rumors that James was mad at Irving, but after the trade that seemed far from the truth. A Cleveland fan tweeted a video of himself leaving a “thank you” note on his Irving jersey, rather than burning it. LeBron agreed with the sentiment.

The NBA is becoming a 24/7, 365 league and that includes Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram. Isaiah Thomas is known for tweeting cryptic emoji on Twitter. Especially when it comes to NBA trades and free agency. In July, he got into an emoji war with Rudy Gobert over the Gordon Hayward debacle. But after Thomas was traded to the Cavaliers for Kyrie Irving, Gobert got the last laugh.

Gobert first tweeted while Hayward was attending his free agency meetings with Miami and Boston, implying that Utah would be the best choice.

Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas, two of the top three point guards in the Eastern Conference, are changing teams. In a stunning blockbuster deal, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics have agreed to trade the two All-Star point guards, according to Yahoo’s Shams Charania.

About a month ago, it was reported that Irving had requested a trade from the Cavaliers, apparently not happy coexisting with LeBron James, among other complaints. It seemed clear that the Cavaliers would have to deal Irving, but rumors had centered on other teams — not Boston — until Tuesday evening.

The Celtics and Cavaliers rapidly completed a blockbuster Kyrie Irving trade that involved Isaiah Thomas going to the Cavaliers.

The deal in discussion earlier Tuesday night involved Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and a future draft pick, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnaroski. That draft pick ended up being Brooklyn’s unprotected 2018 first-round pick. That pick could turn into a high lottery pick.

The Cavs and Celtics swapped Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas in undoubtedly the biggest trade of the summer and HOLY MOLY the NBA is a beautiful league that accidentally did the most perfect thing. The Celtics and Cavs are slated to play the first game of the 2017-18 season back in Cleveland on Oct. 17. That’s soon, and this is all so wild!

In a month and a half we’re set to get a way-too-early preview of the two teams expected to once again lead the Eastern Conference. That was always going to be a treat. But now there’s going to be SERIOUS BEEF on both sides.

Isaiah Thomas is the latest example of why athletes should delete their old tweets.

Thomas was just sent to Cleveland in a trade for Kyrie Irving that also sent Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and Brooklyn’s 2018 first-round pick to Cleveland. He’s now teammates with LeBron James, which is great. Until you do some digging on the timeline, and realize things could get awkward.

NBA 2K18 comes out on Sept. 19, and its cover athlete is wearing the wrong jersey. Kyrie Irving was traded to the Celtics on Aug. 22, just a month before the game releases in stores everywhere.

It’s possible that the team at 2K has a plan for this but it would seem awfully hard to do this late in the game.

The Cavaliers finally traded Kyrie Irving to the Celtics in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and Brooklyn’s 2018 first-round pick on Tuesday night after a months-long conversation of his desire to leave Cleveland. It was a historic trade for many reasons, namely that top conference rivals swapped superstars, but also because Mr. Relevant and Mr. Irrelevant were traded for each other.

Irving and Thomas bookended the 2011 NBA draft where the Cavs prodigy went No. 1 overall, and the 5’9 Washington point guard was taken last in a 60-player draft by the Kings. Nobody could have predicted that Thomas would be THIS good to warrant being the top name in a trade for Irving.

Any team entertaining a Kyrie Irving trade does so knowing he has two years left on his contract and can become a free agent in 2019. But according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, one team is willing to pull the trigger on a deal knowing the All-Star point guard would re-sign long term: the San Antonio Spurs.

Irving approached Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert for a trade in July; he no longer wanted to play alongside LeBron James and gave ownership a list of five teams he would like to play for. That list included San Antonio.

On Tuesday, LeBron James tweeted that he would not, in fact, be tempted “to beat (Kyrie Irving’s) ass” if he were standing in front of Irving today. What a sentence that was. They didn’t warn me in journalism school that I would have to ever write something that absurd.

Let’s backtrack: We know Irving has requested a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers. We know that trade will probably happen, although of the many potential destinations, none are perfect fits. We understand, more or less, that Irving’s request comes from his fatigue of playing under James’ shadow and a desire to star on his own team.

July 21 update: Kyrie Irving has recently asked the Cavs for a trade, according to a report that came out Friday afternoon.

The Cavaliers aren’t in the best place heading into the 2017-18 season, and Kyrie Irving knows it.