Did the Boston Celtics make a mistake in dealing away Isaiah Thomas for Kyrie Irving?
First, let’s start out with a few critical caveats here — this is not an article to bash Danny Ainge for being heartless regarding IT after he hurt himself giving his all for the Celtics. There’s an argument to be had regarding its optics, but it was a business decision in trying to get some value out of the found money that was Thomas’ contract, and a very defensible if indeed ice-cold one. The perspective being explored here is less to do with that, and more to do with what could have happened if the Celtics simply let the Tacoma native walk.
Or, perhaps, let the market dictate his next contract, saving the proverbial powder used to grease the deal to the Cleveland Cavaliers instead.
How the Kyrie trade helped result in not just Collin Sexton, but also Jarrett Allen and Andre Drummond pic.twitter.com/IquGuEVDYj
— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) January 21, 2021