7:00pm: The Cavs and Celtics started to engage each other on a solution today, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN writes. Wojnarowski adds that the Cavs are no longer looking for Boston’s top young players (Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown had been previously mentioned) or significant draft picks. League sources tell Wojnarowski that a late first-round pick or second-round pick could suffice.
5:00pm: While the prevailing narrative throughout the NBA world this week has been about the Cavaliers supposedly seeking to renegotiate the Kyrie Irving trade, Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald points out that the two sides haven’t actually spoken about it following Cleveland’s medical examination of Isaiah Thomas‘ now famous hip.
The Cavs have until Thursday morning to void the deal if the two clubs don’t decide to mutually extend that deadline.
Per A. Sherrod Blakely of CSN New England, the Cavaliers don’t believe that they were duped by Danny Ainge and the C’s, just that the two clubs interpreted Thomas’ prognosis differently.
Even if the Cavs did look for additional compensation after the fact, Chris Forsberg of ESPN writes that he believes Boston should stand pat lest something as seemingly trivial as a late pick turn into a sleeper star or potentially facilitate a trade for a superstar.
Sean Deveney of The Sporting News echoes Forsberg’s sentiments, albeit for slightly different reasons. Since the Cavaliers knew as much about Thomas’ hip as the Celtics did, Boston caving to retroactive concerns about a trade would set a bad precedent.
Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders does a good job of shining light on the conundrum from Cleveland’s perspective and points out that NBA circles tend to agree that the Celtics would agree to more compensation.
Kyler highlights the fact that the Cavs were clearly looking for veteran players who could help them contend this season. If Thomas isn’t able to perform at a high level come the second half of the 2017/18 season, he isn’t exactly the “win-now” player the team sought from the get-go when Irving requested his trade.
What’s more, an injured Thomas would represent $6MM of luxury taxed money and limit Cleveland’s roster flexibility.
Again, while fans and scribes can discuss the details and general ethics of a hypothetical renegotiation, it’s worth pointing out that the Cavs haven’t actually contacted Ainge about doing so.
If they still haven’t by 10:00 AM CST Thursday, the trade will officially be in the books.
Lol all made up by ESPN so they could have stuff to talk about
In the office of Ryan McDonough the phone rings. He’s greeted by “Hey big head. What are you doing, it’s Koby Kobe. So listen, about that Bledsoe and 1st rnd package we talked about….”.
Ryan McDonough to Koby Altman, “Take a hike junior!…click”
Still no one is mentioning Crowder’s contract. Great value for his production.
Crowder is no longer an underpaid starter since Ainge signed Haywood and drafted Brown and Tatum.
Stevens basically said that he was going to experiment with lineups so I disagree. Glad he’s involved in this trade though because Tatum/Brown will get more minutes.
more fake news made up by ESPN just to fan the flames
Cadavers knew what they were getting.
Always seemed odd that Cavs would be initiating an ask. Normally, if you’re not getting what you thought, you just void the deal (with a heads up). Up to the other team to initiate a change.
Cavs hold the cards on this one. Why not ask for more? If Boston declines they are stuck with a PG who is FA at seasons end and a diminished value because of the physical.
And the cavs are stuck with a guy who really doesn’t want to play for them. I could see Irving sitting out the year for Cleveland if the cavs nixed the deal!
An earlier article said that the deal would be voided if no agreement is reached by 10 on Thursday. This article says the trade would be official if no agreement is reached by 10 on Thursday. Which is it?
They’ve already reached an agreement. If the Cavs decide they want to void that agreement, they’d have to take action to do so by Thursday morning. Otherwise the trade will be completed as is.
They basically have till 10am Thursday morning, to agree on Thomas’s physical
Celts could give cavs conditional picks: 2nd round pick if IT misses x amount of games, first round pick if he misses y amount of games. All Celts picks tho, none of the early round picks.
My only concern there is IT takes his time to screw the Cs over haha
Agree. Since the Cavs usually coast until the playoffs anyway, I could see both Cavs FO and IT taking their time to activate him to stick it to Celts.
As a Celtics fan I’d be okay with this, BUT I don’t think conditional trades are legal in NBA.
Ainge should call their bluff! IT just declared that he is good. Cavs have to follow his lead. He is tough as nails and playing for a contract. LBJ is leaving…IT will take over Cavs if Mr. Dilbert unloads the Brinks truck.
I would be surprised if IT is with the Cavs after this year. If LaBron leaves so is IT as free agent probably signing a max or just under with another team. Why would he stay in Cleveland unless they offer him a ridiculous contract. He wants to win and he will be 30. He will look for a playoff type team that can offer the max or close for a scoring guard. I see IT and Lebron in Cleveland for one year.
Agreed
Not if they throw max dollars at him because he’s not getting it anywhere else