As the days and weeks passed and point guard Kyrie Irving remained with the Cleveland Cavaliers, there was a belief by some that Cleveland would eventually come back to the Suns and make a deal without Phoenix having to give up rookie small forward Josh Jackson.
Now we know why that never happened.
The haul the Boston Celtics gave up Tuesday to acquire Irving – Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and, perhaps most importantly, the 2018 first-round pick that belongs to the Nets - was more than Phoenix could or would ever part with.