Report: Gilbert pulled strings in Irving trade — The Boston Celtics will introduce their offseason All-Star additions, Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, in a news conference this afternoon. Now that Irving’s trade has been finalized, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer digs into the deal and reports that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert — and not new GM Koby Altman — was steering Irving’s trade to Boston:
Koby Altman may be the latest person to call himself Cleveland Cavaliers general manager—the fourth in the past 12 years since Dan Gilbert bought the team—but multiple sources have told me that the Cavs owner was the one calling the shots on the trade that sent Irving to Boston, and he’s the one dealing with the fallout. Gilbert’s dysfunctional ways are old news. Gilbert himself joked during Altman’s introductory presser that his GMs have four-year presidential terms. “A state of organizational chaos is Gilbert’s M.O.,” one executive told me. “Gilbert thinks he’s the protagonist in the story of the Cavaliers, when, in reality, he’s the antagonist.”
Gilbert’s fingerprints were all over the drama that’s unfolded over the past week. Thomas’s health is what held up the deal, but according to multiple league sources with knowledge of Cleveland’s thought process, the unprotected Nets pick and Crowder were the pieces that Cleveland valued the most—those were the assets that got the deal done, not Thomas. The perception of the trade was that the Cavaliers and Celtics swapped franchise point guards, but for the Cleveland front office (and its owner), Thomas was the icing, not the cake.
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But the Celtics wouldn’t have sweetened the pot with the Nets pick and Crowder if Thomas were 100 percent healthy, according to a source with knowledge of Boston’s thinking, nor could Cleveland have demanded such a package. Thomas’s injury was priced into the deal, in the sense that he didn’t have full value.
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Multiple sources told me that Gilbert is operating under the assumption that LeBron will opt out of his contract next summer and leave Cleveland. So Gilbert and Altman targeted Irving trade packages that set up the franchise for the post-LeBron era, rather than the instant-gratification deals they’ve made over the past three years (e.g., trading first-rounders for Channing Frye or Kyle Korver). A front-office executive from another team inquiring about Irving told me that knowing LeBron was staying in Cleveland would have changed what the Cavs asked for in return for Kyrie. Though a wide range of league sources believe LeBron is LeGone, it’s not certain. Regardless, Cleveland doesn’t want to be caught flat-footed. The variety of assets included in Boston’s Irving offer allowed Cleveland to be competitive in 2017–18 while preparing for life after LeBron. Cleveland might have considered Thomas the third-most valuable incoming asset, but the team still wanted a healthy version of him.
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Multiple sources with knowledge of Gilbert’s mind-set believe the Cavs owner cares deeply about how the deal will be seen today and in the future, both internally and across the league—Thomas’s health and a less enthusiastic James and Lue had Gilbert shook.
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Report: Bucks plan to waive Hawes — In one of the more shrewd moves last season, the Bucks traded away the pricey contract of big man Miles Plumlee to the Charlotte Hornets for centers Spencer Hawes and Roy Hibbert. According to ESPN.com’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Bucks are looking to part with Hawes to help their salary cap flexibility:
In order to move beneath the luxury-tax threshold, the Milwaukee Buckswaived 7-footer Spencer Hawes, league sources told ESPN.
The Bucks will use the stretch provision to spread the balance of Hawes’ $6.2 million salary this season over three years, sparing the franchise the full salary-cap hit this year.
Hawes, 29, was traded to Milwaukee in a February deal with Charlotte. Once Hawes clears waivers, he will become an unrestricted free agent.
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The Bucks are now $2.5 million under the tax threshold with 13 guaranteed contracts.
