Last week, Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman and head coach Tyronn Lue held an introductory press conference from Cleveland Clinic Courts to welcome Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, and Ante Zizic to the team.
The Cavs acquired these new faces by way of an August trade with the Boston Celtics. The deal, which ended up being restructured due to lingering concerns with Thomas’ hip injury (labrum), was finally completed after several days of posturing and deliberations from both sides. Cleveland would send All Star point guard Kyrie Irving to Beantown. In return, Boston sent the aforementioned three players, as well as two future Draft picks (Brooklyn Nets’ unprotected first round next year and Miami Heat’s second round in 2020).
As most hoops fans know, Irving, now 25 years of age, asked for a trade shortly after the conclusion of the 2016-17 season.
During last week’s press conference, Altman, who was recently promoted to the GM spot with the Cavs, spoke about Irving’s plea for a trade and how the Cavs handled the situation.
Via Gary Washburn of bostonglobe.com:
“I think we were in information-collecting mode when stuff first broke,” Altman said at Thursday’s news conference introducing the new additions. “We had numerous teams call about it. Just taking a step back relative to Kyrie, I want to thank him from the organization. He made tremendous contributions to this franchise and this city. He was here six years and he became a champion here and he helped us win a championship in spectacular fashion. And so I think we owe him a thank you and we owe him a debt of gratitude and we’ll always be thankful for his exciting years with the Cavaliers and I wanted to be sure Kyrie heard that from us.
“Relative to the trade, we’re just excited about today and moving forward, about the players that are on this team and how they’re going to help us. Coach (Tyronn) Lue talked about the acquisitions we made in the offseason, how they’re going to help us. The goal remains the same, winning a championship, and we think the guys are going to help us a great deal with that.”
There is no doubt that Irving played a large role in the Cleveland’s recent success, as Altman stated. And let’s be honest, the man has a shot named after him. However, having a player on any team that has asked for a trade can create a sticky situation. In the end, it looks like the Cavs handled the situation as best they could in granting Irving’s request.