The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics have engaged in trade talks involving point guards Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical. The two teams are nearing completion, reportedly packaging forward Jae Crowder in the deal and a potential future pick in exchange for Irving, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
While this move could be a potential point guard swap for these two teams, Boston can benefit from the length in Irving’s contract while Cleveland gets another scoring option to pair with LeBron James, in a last-ditch effort in hopes to retain the hometown hero in The Land after the end of this 2017-18 season.
Contractually, the Celtics will need the right piece to match Irving’s three-year, $60 million sum; $39 million of which he is owed through 2019 if he chooses to become an unrestricted free agent.
Thomas has a mere $6.3 million remaining in his contract this upcoming season, one he was hopeful the team could take a big step to make into a primetime offer at some point during the 2017-18 campaign.
Irving requested a trade on July 21, giving four initial teams as his preferred destination (Spurs, Cavaliers, Timberwolves, and Knicks). Cleveland is not required to follow his demands and will likely try to do what’s best for the franchise in the long run, which now appears to be an imminent swap with its Eastern Conference Rival.
If the trade goes through, the Cavs would land the third-best scorer from last season and the Celtics would have four different starters in their opening day roster, making Al Horford, a one-year Celtic, the only remaining piece remaining in the lineup.