Cavs' tactics look suspect as Kyrie Irving trade saga drags on

The clock continues to tick closer to zero on the Kyrie Irving/Isaiah Thomas blockbuster trade deadline (Thursday morning), but as the final solution to the deal remains in question, one thing is becoming more clear: the Cavs are trying some bush league tactics in the aftermath of the originally agreed upon deal.

There have been question marks about Cleveland’s motives in the wake of the revelation that the team had some serious questions about Thomas's hip after his physical and were unsure if they wanted to proceed with the original deal. I’m not going to fault the Cavs’ brass for proceeding cautiously there. They have every right to take a closer look at Thomas’s hip situation, and it’s obviously possible that their doctors disagreed with Boston’s medical staff on how bad the prognosis was for Thomas this season. Conflicting opinions occur all the time in the medical community, and it’s why players go to see multiple doctors on their ailments and make an informed decision from there.

The problem I (and likely the Celtics too) have with the Cavs has come with how this ordeal has played out in the last few days. If the Cavs were operating in good faith, you would expect that once the news leaked (Friday night) about the physical concerns, the team would try to talk to the Celtics fairly promptly about it to come up with a resolution. Demanding more compensation is certainly reasonable in this situation, but one would imagine those talks would happen relatively quickly to see if the teams could find some common ground, particularly given how public the deal had become already. At that point, the Cavs could make the decision to walk away from the deal or not (or try to renegotiate up until the Thursday deadline).  

However, the Cavs' ownership and front office (including new GM Koby Altman) have veered pretty far from that path in recent days. According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, Cleveland didn’t even talk to the Celtics about additional compensation until Tuesday night, four full days after the initial concerns the Cavs had about the Thomas physical leaked out. When you combine that report with the number of leaks that came out over the weekend about Cleveland's potential demands, you can see why Danny Ainge would be pretty miffed here.

By allowing those leaks, the Cavs were essentially telling the NBA that they were still open for business on the Irving front. They (legally) are dragging things out as long as they can because they know they have the Celtics in a brutally tough spot, and Boston can’t do anything about it until the Cavs make a decision on the original deal. In the meantime, the Cavs can field offers (via backchannels) from any team that might be having second thoughts about passing up a shot at Irving.

If the Cavs hear anything that might interest them, they can keep that in the back of their mind while renegotiating with the Celtics on the original deal (all while using Isaiah’s hip as a viable reason for the additional compensation demands from Boston).

Is this all technically legal? Yes, since there is no way of proving that the Cavs’ doctors truly don’t have additional concerns about Thomas’s hip. However, when you start factoring the timing of everything into this ordeal, it’s hard not to think the Cavs are using some shady tactics here.

For that reason, I can only imagine how furious Boston's front office is with how this has played out. I haven't even mentioned how this posturing impacts Thomas and his future free agency status (I'll get to that in another post), but the All-Star point guard didn't deserve to get his health status dragged through the mud by Cleveland either. League sources confirmed to BostonSportsJournal.com that the team was upfront about the health status of Thomas (as much as it could be) in negotiations. Boston also paid a hefty price on top of Thomas for Irving to account for those concerns (Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, Brooklyn pick) and now he could be left with nothing but disgruntled players if the Cavs opt to pass. Ainge has to choose between that scenario or potentially strengthening his rivals by sweetening the pot on a deal that many already believe was at least a slight overpay compared to what guys like Jimmy Butler and Paul George went for.

Ultimately, this ordeal could become a warning tale about why a team shouldn’t do business with a rival. Cleveland’s tactics here are technically fair game and are designed to squeeze as much as they can out of the Celtics. Whether or not this deal goes through, the Celtics will have taken a hit here and the Cavs may have lost some respect around the NBA for exactly how they played their cards to make that happen.

EIther way, we’re about to find out just how badly Ainge wants Irving.