After losing the 2017 NBA Finals to arguably the greatest team ever assembled, the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors, Kyrie Irving had had enough.
He requested a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers, who drafted him first overall in the 2011 NBA Draft. He won one championship during his tenure there.
Despite the opportunity to win more championships if he stuck around, Kyrie decided that his priorities were different. He wanted to leave LeBron James’s shadow and lead his own team. Thus, the Cavs dealt him to the Boston Celtics for a package that has not borne fruit in the eight years since.
The Exchange
Kyrie Irving has not experienced the same level of success since leaving the Cavs. However, he is not the only party that did not come out more objectively successful.
In return for Kyrie, the Cavs got Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and a pick that eventually turned into Collin Sexton. Thomas, the main piece, missed extensive time due to injury and did not return as the same player.
The Cavs dealt both him and Crowder in a trade deadline package, and Zizic left for the EuroLeague soon after. Sexton was dealt in a package years later for Donovan Mitchell. After all the trades, the result of the Kyrie trade is as follows.
Cavs give up: Kyrie Irving, Channing Frye, Ochai Agbaji, three first-round picks, and two pick swaps.
Cavs receive: Donovan Mitchell, two second-round picks
On paper, this looks like a disaster. Donovan Mitchell has been nothing short of awesome for the Cavs, but his play has not made up for a massive front office blunder.
The Aftermath
After losing Kyrie, LeBron went on what many would call “a generational run,” carrying the 2018 Cavs to the NBA Finals. He played all 82 games and averaged 27.5 points per game, 9.1 assists per game, and 8.6 rebounds per game. He finished second in MVP voting, and somehow his level of play rose in the playoffs.
In the postseason, he averaged 34 points per game, 9 assists per game and 9.1 rebounds per game. But in an NBA Finals matchup where Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green all stood across from him, even a 51-point first game was not enough to prevent a sweep.
In the 2018 offseason, LeBron would leave for the Los Angeles Lakers. The Cavaliers had been built around him, so they had quite the mess to clean up.
It took them until the 2021-22 season to achieve a winning record again and until the following season to make the playoffs again. But even after going 64-18 under Coach of the Year Kenny Atkinson last season, the Cavs have not been able to get past the second round of the playoffs.
What Could’ve Been
So what happens in an alternate timeline where the Cavs keep Kyrie and he remains happy?
There are a lot of what-ifs in the Cavs’ history from 2015-18. Many believe that the Cavs would have won the 2015 NBA Finals had Kyrie and Kevin Love not been hurt, including coach Tyronn Lue. But that still happens even if Kyrie stayed.
Lue, in his interview with Shannon Sharpe on “Club Shay Shay,” said he believed that Kyrie and LeBron would have eventually brought another title to Cleveland had they stayed together. In addition, had Kevin Durant not headed to Golden State, he thought the team would have three-peated, and Kyrie would not have left.
To combat KD’s arrival in Oakland, Lue believed a top-notch center could have helped them overcome the challenge. While the Cavs didn’t get that done, Lue said they almost got Paul George. With more time, the front office may have been able to bring in another star to fight off KD and the Warriors.
Lue said that there was nothing he could do to make Kyrie change his mind, but he and LeBron begged the Cavs front office not to deal Kyrie. He thought this move spurred LeBron’s later decision to leave for the Lakers.
Conclusion
There’s no way to truly tell if the Cavs would have won another championship if Kyrie and LeBron had stayed. If so, we will never know how many. Maybe they would still be in title contention now, over a decade after LeBron’s return to Cleveland.
The Cavs certainly would not have the young, fast-paced roster they have now. Tyronn Lue would likely still be coaching them.
However, if a source as close as the head coach believes that the Cavs would have won at least another whole championship if Kyrie hadn’t left, it is highly probable they would have had more playoff success than two second-round appearances.
The current rendition of the Cavs certainly has the potential to win a championship sometime soon. Every playoff team showed inconsistencies and weaknesses this year, and the Cavs just have to get good enough to take advantage. But after multiple disappointing seasons in a row, it’s fair to claim that, for now, trading Kyrie Irving still haunts the Cavs.
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