Cavaliers have not requested Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum — or anything — in Kyrie Irving trade
Amid question marks surrounding Isaiah Thomas’s hip, the Cleveland Cavaliers have reportedly not asked the Boston Celtics for any more assets in the Thomas-Irving deal
Six days ago, the Cavs shook the NBA world by trading their star point guard for the Celtics star point guard, plus Jae Crowder, rookie center Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets 2018 first-round pick.
The deal appeared 100 percent complete, but the Cavs became concerned with Thomas’s hip injury after he completed a physical. Nearly a week later, the NBA world holds its breath on one of the biggest blockbuster trades in NBA history.
On Sunday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski indicated that the Cavs would seek another asset, likely a draft pick. He said that while the Cavs would hope to add Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum, that would be “very unlikely.”
But, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, the Cavs have not yet requested Brown, Tatum, a draft pick or anything else from the Celtics.
Per a source, as of yesterday afternoon the Cavs had made no request to Boston for more on Kyrie-IT trade
— Joe Vardon (@joevardon) August 28, 2017
Thomas’s hip is particularly concerning because he is in the final year of his contract. This season could be (will be?) LeBron James’s last year in Cleveland and thus Thomas’s health for the 2017-18 season becomes paramount.
Boston and Cleveland may still be a ways from reaching an agreement. If and when Cleveland does request another asset, Boston probably will not cheerfully hand over Tatum, their prized first-round draft pick, or another draft pick that they have carefully stockpiled.
According to Wojnarowski:
"Boston believes that it was completely transparent with Cleveland about where Thomas was physically, his rehab. Cleveland’s version of this is that they didn’t realize how long Thomas could potentially be out this season. He’s in the final year of his contract, and obviously that matches up with what will likely be the final year of LeBron’s current deal. And so there’s going to be a showdown between these two teams that may extend over a couple more days.”"
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Should the deal fall through and the star guards remain on their current teams, NBA fans can enjoy increased drama between Irving and James and Thomas and the franchise that was happy to trade him.