Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge has responded to reports of an unnamed Cavs player referring to him as a “fucking thief” for his role in the Kyrie Irving trade.
“First of all, time will tell,” Ainge told 98.5 The Sports Hub.
“But that pick that we gave them had the chance to be the No. 1 pick in the draft.
“It turned out to be No. 8, but who knows?
“They may get a really good player with the eighth pick in this year’s draft.
“There are some very good players at the top of the draft.”
Ty Lue said today of Danny Ainge: "You want him on your side. He always gets the best deals. He always makes the right moves."
Do what you wish with that…
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) May 15, 2018
The original report was courtesy of the Athletic’s Jason Lloyd, who has since highlighted just how bad Cleveland’s return in that trade was.
“Whenever any of those three [Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood, Larry Nance] have been on the floor in these playoffs, the Cavs have been outscored by 164 points,” Lloyd wrote.
“Making matters worse, Irving ended last year’s postseason a plus-124. That’s a 288-point differential in the postseason between Irving and the three key figures the Cavs have left to show for him.”
Despite Ainge being widely criticised at the time for giving up too much, that trade was clearly highway robbery.
It helped vault the Celtics to another level and plunge the Cavs into imminent disaster.
If that makes Ainge a thief, I’m sure he can live with that.
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