NBA Free Agency 2019: 5 potential destinations for Kyrie Irving

4. Boston Celtics

If not for the Rose Rule, the Celtics would likely feel far better about their chances of retaining Irving this summer.

Under the current collective bargaining agreement, teams cannot acquire two players on five-year max rookie extensions via trade. Since they already traded for Irving in the summer of 2017, they were prohibited from acquiring disgruntled New Orleans Pelicans star big man Anthony Davis at the trade deadline.

After Irving declared his plan to re-sign with Boston in October, Jay King of The Athletic reported he and Davis had “already spoken about what it would be like to play together in Boston.” Once the trade deadline passed and Davis remained in New Orleans, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer reported “league sources believe Irving would stay” if the Celtics acquired Davis this summer, “which, in turn, would also help retain Davis for the long haul.”

The Celtics will be allowed to trade for Davis on July 1, provided the Pelicans don’t deal him elsewhere prior to then. If they’re confident a Davis deal would convince Irving to re-sign, they may sell the farm for him, giving up the likes of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and draft picks to lock in a Big Four of Irving, Davis, Al Horford and Gordon Hayward.

While such a scenario may seem unlikely given how meekly the Celtics bowed out against the Milwaukee Bucks, don’t underestimate general manager Danny Ainge. If Irving’s issues with his younger teammates soured him on staying in Boston beyond this season, sending them to New Orleans for Davis effectively kills two birds with one stone.

Back in October, Irving told The Athletic’s Shams Charania that he wanted to remain in Boston so he could be “connected to an incredible, incredible culture that has existed way before me and will exist after me.” While Irving’s tone about free agency changed over the ensuing months, Ainge may do everything in his power this summer to keep him around.