"We killed him in this business"

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The The Cleveland Cavaliers had no choice but to exchange Kyrie Irving back in 2017. Irving asked to be moved, and if there had not been, there were threats of knee surgery that would have greatly marginalized or almost the entire next season (he did not have this operation, but then missed the NBA 2018 "data-reactid =" 18 "> The Cleveland Cavaliers had no choice but to negotiate Kyrie Irving back in 2017. Irving asked to be moved and, if it had not been, he would have been threatened with a knee operation that would have spread him close or the entire upcoming season (he did not have this operation, but he missed the 2018 NBA playoffs because of these knee problems).

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The trade that they took was with Boston: Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, a first-round pick in 2018 (now Sexton Collin) and possibly a 2nd round choice in 2020. At the time, that did not seem to displease, as we had not yet understood the seriousness of Thomas's hip surgery – but the Celtics l had understood. Once the Cleveland doctors examined Thomas, the trade was put on hold until additional compensation was added, which turned out to be the second round choice. "Data-reactid =" 19 "> The trade they took was with Boston: Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, a first-round pick in 2018 (now Collin Sexton) and finally a 2nd round choice of 2020. At the time, that did not seem to displease, because we had not yet understood the seriousness of Thomas's hip surgery – but the Celtics understood that. Once the Cleveland doctors examined Thomas, the transaction was suspended until additional allowances were added, which turned out to be the second round choice.

In retrospect, the Cavaliers did not do very well, with all due respect to Sexton (who formed the second rookie team). Although this is to be expected, no one gets equal value when trading a superstar.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "This is not how Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers, sees it, talk to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "data-reactid =" 21 "> This is not how the owner of the Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert, speaks to him, addressing the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

"I do not know, but I think Kyrie will leave Boston," said Gilbert. "We could have ended up with nothing. Looking back after all the steps taken by Koby, we killed him in this trade. "

"Kill?" I did not think the kind of things that Gilbert was supposed to be about was legalized in Ohio at the moment.

It's a question of semantics. Was it as good an agreement that General Manager Koby Altman was going to find at the time? Yes. Once again, at the time, we thought that Thomas would come back in the middle of the coming season and would be closer to the guy who had already voted fifth in the MVP of the season than the one we had finally seen (which is always a sad story, hopefully, Thomas may come back to be a contributor somewhere next season). Crowder was in the rotation of a team that returned to the NBA Finals. Sexton looked promising as a rookie, maybe not as much as some Cavalry fans think, but he can play.

<p class = "canvas-atom web-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "But" killed it? "To quote the great Inigo Montoya, "You continue to use that word, I do not think it means what you think it means." "Data-reactid =" 26 "> But" killed him? "To quote the great Inigo Montoya , "You continue to use that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. "