As the basketball world waits to see if Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas swap jerseys for the coming season, Irving’s high school coach Kevin Boyle can’t help but to wonder why trading the All-NBA point guard was even an option in the first place.
“I would not have traded him at all,” said the Montverde Academy (Fla.) head coach. “People might say it’s done, you’re not gonna repair the relationship or whatever the case may be; you had the thing with Shaq and Kobe going back so I would’ve done everything in my power to try to make that work. When’s the next time Cleveland is gonna LeBron and Kyrie-level players together?
“You could have them both together for five years if you could get them to both buy in to your plan, your vision and how it’s valuable for them and their legacies. I would’ve had to have it blow up in my face because it’s gonna take 20 or 30 years, if ever, to get two guys like that in the same spot.”
Still, Boyle conceded that the proposed trade was “great”… for Boston, which would acquire Irving in exchange for Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets’ unprotected 2018 first-round pick.
The trade has yet to be finalized due to complications with Thomas’ injured hip. The Cavs could seek another trade asset before signing off.
“If this happens I don’t think Cleveland got nearly enough value for Kyrie Irving,” Boyle said. “I don’t mean that with disrespect to Isaiah, who’s a tremendous, great guard, but, one, he’s coming off an injury and, two, guards have a shorter life expectancy than bigs.”
That said, Boyle fully expects that, assuming the trade goes through as is, the two teams would meet in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals next year.
“End of the game, LeBron scores to put Cleveland up one,” Boyle said. “Then, Kyrie has the ball to put Boston in the championship and we’ll see what happens. It’s close man. It’s close. I wouldn’t be surprised if either one of those teams went to the final. But, again, if it were me; I would’ve done everything in my power to make it work in Cleveland.”
Follow Jason Jordan on Twitter: @JayJayUSATODAY
