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Why The Cavaliers Got The Better End of Kyrie Irving-Isaiah Thomas Trade

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One month after he had demanded a trade, which led to countless rumors & predictions concerning where he would go, Kyrie Irving has gotten his wish. On Tuesday, Irving was sent to the Boston Celtics for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Žižić, and the Brooklyn Nets' first round pick in 2018. While the Celtics weren't shafted by any means (how could you be when you get an All-Star point guard?), I do personally believe that the Cavaliers ended up getting the better end of this trade.
For starters, trading Kyrie Irving for Isaiah Thomas might have been a best case scenario for Cleveland. Irving & Thomas are very similar as players, as they are both ball dominant point guards capable of putting up 25+ points a night, but are also bad defenders. Irving is better in my opinion (even though he's not a good defender, he's still infinitely better than Thomas is on defense), but going from an All-Star point guard to a slightly worse All-Star point guard is not something to complain about. Thomas is one of the best scorers in the NBA right now and while he definitely has flaws in his game, specifically defense, and the risk of losing him next year when his contract expires, he's still a great substitution for Irving and The Cavaliers managed to avoid an Indiana Pacers situation where they dealt their star player and didn't have anyone nearly as good to replace them.
Second, Jae Crowder is not a player to sleep on in this deal. Crowder has been steadily improving his game year by year, averaging 14 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in his last two seasons and shot 45% from the field and 37% from three. Defensively, Crowder ranked #13 on the defensive real plus-minus rankings for small forwards. Personally, I think he's a much-needed addition to the Cavs bench to back up LeBron and an improvement over Richard Jefferson who they'll have for the foreseeable future.

 Finally, that 1st round pick is a huge grab for a team that is almost guaranteed a late first-round pick this year. That pick gives the Cavs the Brooklyn Nets' first round pick in next year's draft and it's unprotected because Billy King is possibly insane. Considering how, like death & taxes, the Nets being bad next year is inevitable, the Cavaliers are pretty much guaranteed a good lottery pick, probably even top 5 and possibly even #1. The possibility of landing Michael Porter Jr. or Marvin Bagley while also being one of the top 2 teams in the NBA would be incredible and is another big reason I think the Cavaliers got the better end of this deal.
Also, Ante Žižić...so there's that.
Thanks for reading.
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