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We don't have to "Wait and See" who won the Kyrie-IT trade

People generally say that you can't judge a trade until years after it happens. That doesn't stop instant reactions, but it has a lot of conventional wisdom. Some trades that are bad in the short term are good in the long term. Other trades look bad, but the acquired (or lost) pieces help the team in an unexpected way. Many people have said the same thing about the Kyrie Irving trade. We have to wait on where the Brooklyn pick ends up and how Kyrie and IT integrate into their teams, etc.

I have a different opinion: The Celtics won the trade the second it was made official

Reason #1: This trade ended the Cavs dynasty

The Cleveland Cavaliers are not in an enviable situation. They have 74 million dollars on their books, assuming that LeBron James and Iman Shumpert decline their 4th year options. With all options declined, the roster would consist entirely of Love, Thompson, JR, Korver, Crowder, Osman, and Zizic. Not exactly a star studded cast. Take into account that LeBron is going to command upwards of 35M and they are sitting right at the projected cap of 108M, not to mention the cap hold of the Brooklyn pick. That means that the chances of retaining IT are low and they have to fill half their roster with exception-type contracts. Good luck competing with that lineup. If Irving was still around for an additional season, they would have avoided this now inevitable cap collapse. Now, their clock is ticking.

Reason #2: The point of a trade is to win a championship

This Boston Celtics team is poised to make the NBA finals for years to come. You've heard enough about the youth of our current cast, much younger than the other top teams around. Chances are, we are the big team in the East. It's not a bad trade result if you punch your ticket to the NBA Finals for the foreseeable future

Conclusion:

Danny Ainge, yet again, took full advantage of a scared front office looking for a glitzy return that flames out in a couple years. He trades short term gold for long term treasures. Regardless of who "wins" this trade, the Celtics are winners and the Cavs are losers in a half decade. This trade sealed it. Good work, Danny.

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