Unnamed Cavs Player: Danny Ainge Is A Thief

Tuesday night held not one, but two blows to the Cleveland Cavaliers' organization.

From the moment the idea was first floated, the trade that took Kyrie Irving from Cleveland to Boston last summer looked too good to be true for the Celtics and too bleak to consider for the Cavaliers.

And, as anybody who's watched the Eastern Conference Finals would point out, they miss Irving more than the Celtics.

A Cavs player called Danny Ainge a '(expletive) thief' for the Kyrie Irving trade

LeBron James was lights out as he dropped 42-12-10 in Cleveland's Game 2 loss. The Indians, in not acting to fortify (primarily because of financial constraints) what had been the most unique and reliable piece of the last two years, let the hole in the pen remain.The Cavs, in trading their second-best player without getting the return he was worth, failed by commission, acting when some would say no action was the best course. The most valuable piece the team acquired, Brooklyn's unprotected first-round 2018 pick, can't help Cleveland now, partly because it's a draft pick and partly because the Cavaliers chose to hold onto it at the deadline instead of moving it for someone like DeAndre Jordan.

"He's great", Lue said. He always makes the right moves. And when he makes trades, he does a great job of that also. He's done great in the draft.

One player colorfully told a reporter that Boston Celtics president of basketball ops Danny Ainge stole the superstar point guard. What the Cavs ultimately ended up with in exchange for Irving is Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood, Larry Nance, Ante Zizic and a No. 8 pick. I mean, the Celtics could be the first team to knock off a LeBron-led team prior to the NBA Finals for the first time in eight years, and they'd do it with two budding stars at the ages of 20 (Jayson Tatum) and 21 (Jaylen Brown), and without two of their best players (Irving and Gordon Hayward). The Cavs overcame long odds to win the lottery in 2011 and 2014. Irving would likely still be in the Wine and Gold, and the Cavs' path to a fourth straight NBA Finals appearance would likely seem a lot clearer.