1. He must have spoken to Irving to extend him beyond these two years remaining in his contract.
2. He wouldn't have given IT max money considering age, maybe injury and (lack) of defense due to size. But he thinks some team will give 30 million per year to him, so he had to check in.
3. An injury in a player who plays this way (much contact, getting into the basket among people a foot bigger than him) may be more dangerous than we think.
4. There will be at least five tanking teams this year, while the Nets have no incentive to do so. Maybe their 2018 pick may not be as good as expected.
5. The fact of having to give up more than one player might open up spots for necessary players (Tony Allen as a lockdown swing defender) and solves the logjam at the 3 spot with Crowder's departure, no matter how good his contract was.
BONUS: Let's keep an eye on the Noel situation. It's difficult, but the trade happening as soon as he changed agents makes me wonder.
Taking all these into account, the trade seems more palatable and easier to understand from our perspective. Because, at first sight, you just want to shouuuut.