The biggest winners and losers of the blockbuster trade that's sending Kyrie Irving to the Celtics and Isaiah Thomas to the Cavs
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After a bit of unexpected drama, the Cleveland Cavaliers agreed to trade All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics in exchange for fellow All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas, forward Jae Crowder, rookie center Ante Zizic, the Brooklyn Nets 2018 first-round draft pick, and a 2020 second-round pick.
It's a move that will have huge repercussions in the Eastern Conference, especially if the teams meet again in the Conference Finals this season.
While we don't yet know how the trade will work out for all parties involved, there are some clear winners and losers from the deal. Take a look below to see who benefits from one of the biggest trades of the decade.
WINNER: Kyrie Irving
Kyrie Irving gets what he wants out of this deal — most importantly, out of Cleveland and the shadow of LeBron James. But after Irving announced that he wanted a trade, many spectulated that the Cavs would send him to a bad team, both out of a bit of pettiness and also to avoid having to face him on a contender. Instead, Irving finds himself on the second-best team in the East with the chance to write his own legend.
LOSER: Isaiah Thomas
After journeying across the league for some time, it really felt like Isaiah Thomas had found a home in Boston. The city rallied around him and he played his heart out every game in a way rarely seen by star players outside of Russell Westbrook. But the biggest reason Thomas is a loser in this deal is financial — in the last year of his contract, Thomas was hoping to get a max deal this offseason, and if he had another great season in Boston, he might have won the leverage to do so. With the move, earning a max deal seems like much more of a long shot.
WINNER: Cleveland Cavaliers
This trade is a win for the Cavs in that it helps both their short term and long term plans. For next season, Cleveland can still take the court with an All-Star point guard, and also get useful minutes out of Crowder and Zizic. It makes for a quality lineup, and with rumors of Wade pushing for a buyout so he can join LeBron and company, there's a chance the Cavs do enough to win a title and keep James in town for a while longer. However, if the Cavs fall short and James leaves for Los Angeles as long speculated, Cleveland has a set of younger assets as well as a first-round pick to help get started on building a future.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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