What options do the Celtics have in a potential renegotiation of the Irving deal? taken at BSJ Headquarters (Celtics)

Kelley L Cox/USA TODAY Sports

Celtics

What options do the Celtics have in a potential renegotiation of the Irving deal?

By Brian Robb

Aug 28, 2017 • 9:31 am

0comment-bubble

Headlines ran rampant once again Sunday night as the Kyrie Irving/Isaiah Thomas trade stalemate received a fresh round of updates. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN spoke about the Cavaliers’ front office on SportsCenter, and relayed Cleveland’s mindset in looking for additional compensation to further offset the questionable health status of Thomas.  

“Now, Cleveland is going to try to inquire about a couple of the Celtics’ young players,” Wojnarowski said. “Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, who they tried to get in the original trade, that is very unlikely. But, Boston still has a war chest of future first-round picks of their own, and some picks they control from other teams. And Cleveland is going to try to get one more of those to finalize this deal.”

Meanwhile, the Celtics remain intent on holding the line in negotiations for the time being. League sources confirmed to Bostonsportsjournal.com that Danny Ainge has been unwilling to surrender more than a second-round pick in a re-negotiation of the deal to this point. It’s a similar stance to what I wrote about on Saturday evening here.

So what options do both teams have now at this point in the process? Let’s break down a few important components of the process as this soap opera continues in the coming days.

How exactly can the original deal be vetoed?

The Cavaliers would have to fail Thomas on his physical. At that point, the trade would be vetoed and all players would be returned to their original team.

Is there a deadline for the trade to go through before it’s vetoed?

Thursday is the deadline for the Cavaliers to pass or fail Thomas on his physical, so that serves as a theoretical deadline. However, an extension can be granted on that decision if approved by both teams involved.

What’s with this talk of the Cavaliers inquiring about Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown being included? Isn’t that ridiculous for them to ask?

Yes it is, but it’s also being taken out of context in some headlines (ahem). One route the Cavaliers could take in the renegotiation process is simply asking one asset in the deal to be replaced, instead of asking for something else entirely. My understanding is that the Cavs would be asking for Brown or Tatum in place of the Brooklyn pick or Jae Crowder. Don’t expect the Celtics to give in to that demand, but it sounds a lot more reasonable than adding either guy to the original package offered.

So what else could either side haggle about in re-negotiations?

There’s a lot in play from the Celtics side. Boston has a bunch of leftover draft picks in their treasure chest of assets that I’m sure Cleveland and 28 other teams would love to get their hands on, as Wojnarowski referenced. Here’s a rough list of what the Celtics could hypothetically offer on the draft pick front:

2018 picks

1st round:


  • BOS  

  • LAL (if it falls in 2-5 only)


2nd round:


  • BOS


2019 picks


1st round:


  • BOS

  • MEM (top 9 protected in 19, top 7 protected in 2020, unprotected in 2021)

  • LAC (top 14 protected in 2019, 2020. Turns into 2 second round picks in 2021)

  • Better of SAC/PHI pick (if LAL pick isn’t received in 2018)


2nd round:


  • BOS

  • MIA


The Celtics only hold their own picks in 2020 and every year afterwards. They can offer draft picks up to seven years in the future (through 2023).   


Needless to say, there is still plenty to choose in that collection. While it’s easy for national media to say, “Just throw in another first round pick Danny -- you have plenty anyway” that’s not how this front office operates. They deeply value those first-round picks (as seen by their decision to keep and use nearly all of their stash in recent drafts). And if they feel like they’ve negotiated in good faith all along, they are not going to give a first round pick away just to get a deal done.


So if the Celtics aren’t going to budge on anything more than a second-round pick, is there any other way the deal could be salvaged?


Absolutely. The Cavs could give in and accept the original deal. Some other element in the original deal could be replaced. Perhaps the Cavs prefer a different rookie to Ante Zizic? It’s hard to envision Thomas or Crowder being removed from the deal in favor of someone else, since their salaries are needed for matching and there are obviously a lot of wounds to heal if either player is coming back to Boston. All of the Celtics, outside of Aron Baynes, Gordon Hayward, Shane Larkin and Daniel Theis are eligible to be traded at this point.  


Could the Celtics add some compensation to the deal that is contingent on the health of Thomas?


No, even though that would be quite useful in this instance. While other sports (the NHL immediately comes to mind) have draft-pick compensation that can be adjusted in a trade based on a number of games a player hits, those type of provisions are not legal in NBA trades. I expect this to be an issue that will be revisited in future CBAs, though.


What else could the Celtics and Cavs try?


Some minor tweaks, like the ability for the Cavs to swap picks with Boston in a certain draft, could be offered as a compromise by the Celtics to go along with a second-round pick. In theory, the Cavs could also add something to the deal themselves if they got another pick out of Boston, but the problem is they don’t have anything to trade themselves outside of picks. All of their roster players are free agent signings or make too much money to be included in the deal (since salaries need to match in the trade).


It’s usually a challenge for two rivals to do business under normal circumstances. With the high stakes and bad blood in play here, I expect both sides to be reluctant about being the first to blink in a stalemate that could transform the future of both franchises.  

Show Comments
Loading...
Loading...
Loading sidebar...
0
Show comments for this article