Written by Colin Ward-Henniger at CBS Sports.com
The Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly asking for more pieces from the Boston Celtics following the blockbuster trade that sent Kyrie Irving to Boston in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and Brooklyn’s 2018 first-round pick.
After giving Thomas his physical, the Cavs weren’t convinced that the Celtics were fully forthcoming about the extent of Thomas’ hip injury, so they’re looking to restructure the trade with added assets. We don’t know exactly what assets Cleveland is asking for, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowki reported on SportsCenter on Sunday that they’ll definitely ask about rookie Jayson Tatum and second-year wing Jaylen Brown.
“Now, Cleveland is going to try to inquire about a couple of the Celtics’ young players, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, who they tried to get in the original trade, that is very unlikely,” Wojnarowski said. “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.”
As Wojnarowski mentioned, the Cavs acquiring either Brown or Tatum in addition to the haul they’ve already received is next to impossible. Boston already gave up more than most expected to get Irving, so throwing in one of their consecutive No. 3 picks in the last two drafts is likely out of the question.
In fact, Boston is reportedly resisting adding any pieces at all, saying they were fully up-front about Thomas’ injury throughout the negotiations.
“Boston is resisting, and will initially at least, resist this idea,” Wojnarowski said. “Boston believes that it was completely transparent with Cleveland about where Thomas was physically, his rehab. Cleveland’s version of this is that they didn’t realize how long Thomas could potentially be out this season, he’s in the final year of his contract, and obviously, that matches up with what will likely be the final year of LeBron’s current deal, and so there’s going to be a showdown between these two teams that may last a couple more days.”
To continue reading this article, click here.
