Kyrie Irving finally got his wish on Tuesday, when the Cleveland Cavaliers traded him to Boston for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 first-round pick. According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7, the Milwaukee Bucks were also in the mix for Irving, and made an offer that came close:
Suns were never really in on Kyrie but here is a nugget – Milwaukee was close – offered Brogdon, Middleton and a 1st round pick.
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) August 23, 2017
Brogdon, Middleton and a draft pick would have been a pretty great haul, though the Celtics’ offer was superior.
Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press refuted Gambadoro’s report, however:
As I do more background on the Kyrie blockbuster, league sources say Bucks never offered Middleton, Brogdon and a pick as was reported
— Jon Krawczynski (@APkrawczynski) August 23, 2017
It makes sense that the Bucks would want to target Irving, and a first-round pick, last year’s Rookie of the Year and an extremely underrated 3-and-D wing in Middleton is a pretty great offer.
Whether or not this report is accurate, in the end, Boston was the team that ended up with Irving. One interesting implication of this report is this: Perhaps the reason that Boston gave up so much for Irving was that they were bidding against Milwaukee.
