The Celtics gave up quite a bit in their trade for Kyrie Irving on Tuesday, so it is no surprise that they are reportedly confident they can keep the star point guard in Boston for many years to come.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Celtics made the deal for Irving with a “strong belief” he will eventually sign an extension with the team. Irving is said to be “thrilled” with where he ended up.
Irving thrilled w/ joining Celtics and they'll have great chance to eventually re-sign him. Boston made deal with strong belief he'll stay.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 23, 2017
Former Cavs general manager David Griffin mentioned the Celtics as a possible destination for Irving earlier in the offseason, noting that Kyrie wanted to play for a great coach like Brad Stevens. Boston was also able to keep No. 3 overall pick Jayson Tatum in the deal and last year’s first-round pick Jaylen Brown, so there’s no reason Irving wouldn’t want to stay long-term.
Irving would have reportedly been willing to sign an extension with at least one other team. Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has always been hesitant about giving up assets for “rental” players, so he probably would not have dealt Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 first-round pick if he thought Irving would leave after the 2018-2019 season.
