Even if the Boston Celtics are down bad at the moment, one thing needs to be clear: they are not desperate enough to even think about reuniting with Kyrie Irving. It does sound like the infamous Celtics alum has gotten his act together over the past few years - good for him - but even so, no, Boston should not want him back under any circumstance.
But that doesn't mean that they can't help each other out. Enough time has passed and enough dust has settled that, hey, who's to say they can't scratch each other's backs.
Dallas looks like it's cleaning house this summer, which could mean Kyrie will be on the block again. Boston will be on the prowl for game-changers this summer. These two plotlines could intertwine with each other, but more in a three-way deal where Kyrie gets put on a win-now team while the Celtics get that game-changer.
With that in mind, one team that has not been reported as a Kyrie suitor but makes sense as one is the Minnesota Timberwolves, who need a pure second scorer next to Anthony Edwards. Something that has been mentioned in intel is that the Timberwolves might be done with Rudy Gobert, which should definitely catch the Celtics' eye.
That's how the following deal could be struck between the Celtics, Timberwolves, and Mavericks.
Celtics get: Gobert
Timberwolves get: Irving, Daniel Gafford
Mavericks get: Nikola Vucevic (sign-and-trade for $25,651,785 either partially guaranteed or non-guaranteed second season), Sam Hauser, Donte DiVincenzo, Celtics' 2028 top-five protected first, Timberwolves' 2028 protected first
Dallas might be more demanding since they are the team basically starting over, but at the same time, Irving's a buy-low candidate, which may work against them if they put him on the market.
The Celtics get Gobert, the game-changer they need, as they would value both his presence and playoff experience. The Timberwolves get Irving and Gafford, who's not as good as Gobert, but is an apt big man to go with Irving. The Mavericks get to start over with arguably the best deal they could expect for Irving.
The underrated aspect of this blockbuster trade
This deal would work great for all of these teams for one reason no one would consider: all three of these teams stay under the first tax apron, meaning they get to keep their flexibility to make other moves. Boston may have lost the edge they would have had in sign-and-trades with Hauser gone, but getting Gobert for their troubles is about as good as they could reasonably expect.
The Celtics can then use their non-taxpayers MLE on another valuable player to further put themselves back into the conversation. Gobert may have his flaws and he's not what he was - which is why his contract isn't as expensive as it used to be - but he's much better than whoever the Celtics had in their frontcourt this postseason.
Boston wants to build the best team possible around the Jays. Gobert is in the Jrue Holiday/Derrick White/Al Horford/Kristaps Porzingis (sometimes) mold of that guy who changes the outlook of a game so much by himself.
Sure, it comes at the cost of putting Irving on a contender again, but that wouldn't be the Celtics' problem. Plus, they can get Gobert while staying under the tax? Where do we sign?
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