Before you instant-dismiss this, hear me out. I want to brainstorm this with my fellow Celtic fans.
I've seen fans mention Boston going after D'Angelo Russell if Kyrie leaves. My instant reaction to it is that it makes no sense whatsoever. On the surface, there seems to be no incentive for Brooklyn to do a sign-and-trade for Kyrie when they can just sign him outright.
I've been giving this some thought, though. I haven't seen anyone mention this possibility...
If the Chernobyl-level smoke about Kyrie going to Brooklyn proves true, is there any incentive for Boston to help the Nets get Anthony Davis?
I was listening to a recent Bill Simmons podcast and they were speculating that Brooklyn could somehow do a sign-and-trade of Russell to a team like the Suns for the #6 pick - and then try to re-route the #6 pick, Spencer Dinwiddle, Jarret Allen, Caris LeVert as a package for Anthony Davis...
It made me wonder if there is any logic to Boston trying to acquire Russell. For instance, a double sign-and-trade where we send Kyrie to the Nets, the Nets send Russell to the Celtics (fairly complicated, but I believe salary matching would work out) - and in return for Russell we give up assets like #14, #20, #22 and the Memphis pick that the Nets can then re-route in their package offer for Davis.
To be clear, we wouldn't really be trading Kyrie for Russell. This is assuming Kyrie is gone. Ultimately, we'd be giving up assets to Brooklyn for Russell and using the Kyrie contract situation as a way to acquire Russell without giving up 30 million in salary.
So no, definitely doesn't make any sense whatsoever for Brooklyn to gift us Russell when they can just match any offer he gets on the open market... but... if it's mutually beneficial and helps the Nets get Kyrie + Davis + cap space to sign a 3rd star... maybe there's some plausibility to this idea?