On this day in Boston Celtics history, the team traded fan-favorite All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas to the Cleveland Cavaliers along with forward Jae Crowder, big man Ante Zizic and draft assets for All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving in 2017.
“Kyrie is one of the best scorers in the NBA. He has proven that on the biggest stage, the NBA Finals, the last three years,” said Celtics President Danny Ainge in a press release at the time.
“He’s been an NBA champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and (at that time) a four-time All-Star,” added Ainge. “For all he’s accomplished, we think his best years are ahead of him.”
Thomas’ hip injury would cause him to fail his physical, requiring the addition of more draft assets to complete the trade later in the week. We all know how Irving’s tenure went in Boston, but at the time, the deal made sense, as painful as it was to part ways with Thomas.