One among funniest components of the Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis commerce was that Danny Ainge (lastly) performed a component in facilitating a Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis pairing. When Ainge was President of Basketball Operations for the Celtics, he had at all times needed to get Irving and Davis in inexperienced.
In 2018, there have been studies that Davis and Irving talked about becoming a member of forces in Boston. It wasn’t recognized on the time was that Kevin Durant was part of these plans, too. Kyrie revealed these discussions on Tuesday evening after the Mavericks misplaced to the 76ers.
Kyrie Irving mentioned he, Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant talked about enjoying collectively in Boston again in 2018, with the hope to take action ultimately alongside Jayson Tatum.
“It was a dream for Kyrie, AD, KD to be on one group and nonetheless maintain JT and let him develop after which see the way it goes.” pic.twitter.com/TSAYnNjPQY
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) February 5, 2025
“All of us had that imaginative and prescient to play collectively,” Irving mentioned. “Danny Ainge had a big accountability in that, attempting to make it occur, ensure that I stayed in Boston. However we had some younger items in JT and JB and if we’d have traded both of them who is aware of in the event that they win a championship. So, the franchise needed to do what was finest for them, and I needed to do what was finest for me.”
When he was requested if the plan was for himself, Davis and Durant to group up in Boston, Kyrie added, “in 2018, it was a dream for Kyrie, AD, KD to be on one group and nonetheless maintain JT, let him develop and see the way it goes. However again then, these younger guys weren’t able to be in commerce rumors, man. Our locker room splintered after that, as soon as they came upon. It wasn’t JB or JT, however our locker room splintered after they came upon about these commerce rumors and our season went in a complete totally different route.”
It might have been fascinating to see these three gamers group up on the Celtics, whereas maintaining a younger Tatum on the group. They might have, in all chance, been among the best groups within the NBA and competed for a number of championships.
I don’t suppose that there are various Celtics followers who would have traded this timeline of occasions for that one. I actually wouldn’t.
