Cleveland Wants Boston to Toss in Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown, But the Cavs Have No Leverage
By Jason McIntyre
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the Isaiah Thomas trade to Cleveland has hit a snag. Thomas suffered a hip injury in the playoffs, and he’s not fully healthy, so when the Cavs gave him a physical … well, nobody’s quite sure what happened.
But all of a sudden, Woj reports that the Cavs are seeking more compensation from the Celtics to offset the injury to Thomas.
Danny Ainge should tell Koby Altman and the Cavs to buzz off, go find another taker for Kyrie Irving. The offer of Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and the Nets 2018 1st round pick is final. I wouldn’t even throw in a 2nd round pick. No way.
If Thomas won’t be healthy until Christmas, start Derrick Rose.
I know Celtics fans think it would be damn near impossible to take back Thomas and Crowder at this point. Totally disagree. Ainge and Brad Stevens are professionals, as is Thomas. This was business, not personal. And frankly, Thomas is not in a position to whine about loyalty; he’s entering the final year of his deal and what is going to be the market for a 5-foot-9 point guard who doesn’t play defense who will have just turned 29 in February?
And Cleveland certainly would have to accept “take it or leave it” because it’s evident they can’t bring Irving into camp with LeBron James. That won’t work. As if you didn’t know the Cavs had zero good offers for Kyrie, there’s this: They traded him to a rival in the conference who was the #1 seed last year.
Phoenix wasn’t parting with Josh Jackson; the Timberwolves weren’t letting go of Andrew Wiggins. The Knicks and Heat don’t have the players to make a quality offer.
The guess here: Nothing happens, the deal is finalized.