Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert thinks Kyrie Irving will leave the Boston Celtics this summer in free agency and that the Cavs won the Irving trade.
The Cavs traded Irving to the Celtics in the summer of 2017 after the All-Star guard requested a trade. Cleveland traded Irving for Jae Crowder, Isaiah Thomas, Ante Zizic, a 2018 first round pick (Collin Sexton was later selected) and a 2020 second round pick.
The Cavs traded Crowder to the Utah Jazz and Thomas to the Los Angeles Lakers at the 2018 February trade deadline, but they still landed Sexton and Zizic. The Celtics, meanwhile, could lose Irving for nothing this summer in free agency.
“I don’t know, but I think Kyrie will leave Boston,” Gilbert told Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com. “We could have ended up with nothing. Looking back after all the moves Koby made, we killed it in that trade.”
Irving helped the Cavs win the 2016 title over the Golden State Warriors in seven games. He finished his Cavs career with averages of 21.6 points and 5.5 assists in 381 games.
Cleveland made it to the NBA Finals last season, but got swept by the Warriors. Kevin Love is the only member of The Big Three who is still on the Cavs, as LeBron James signed with the Lakers last summer.