On Tuesday, ESPN reported that Cleveland had expressed interest in Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum , the third overall pick of this year’s draft. Boston would have to part with other pieces to acquire a player of Irving’s caliber, and also to come within $5 million of his $18.9 million salary, per league rules.

Last month Irving asked to be traded, reportedly because he wanted to be out of LeBron James’s shadow. The Celtics would be a logical trade partner for the same reason they would be a logical trade partner for any team willing to part with a star: They have perhaps the league’s shiniest collection of stars, young players, and assets.

The Celtics are among the teams that have continued to have trade discussions with the Cavaliers about All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving , league sources said, but Cleveland’s urgency to make a deal remains unclear.


If the Celtics acquired Irving, it would likely signal the end of Isaiah Thomas’s tenure in Boston. The Celtics might have reservations about whether it is worth parting with their own All-Star point guard in addition to several other assets in exchange for Irving.

But it is also true that Thomas, at 28, is three years older than Irving and will be a free agent at season’s end. Irving is under contract for two more seasons.

For the Celtics, a potential Irving trade could be a boon even if he does not come to Boston. If he is part of a deal centered on a young prospect — ESPN said Cleveland is also interested in Denver’s Jamal Murray, Phoenix’s Josh Jackson, and New York’s Kristaps Porzingis — it could put a short-term dent in the Cavaliers and help clear the path for Boston in the East, particularly with James’s looming free agency next summer.

Peacemaker

The arrival of German forward Daniel Theis could help cool any lingering feud between the Celtics and Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder.


Theis, who signed a two-year deal with Boston last month, was Schroder’s teammate for four seasons in Germany’s national youth system, and the two have remained close friends.

Theis said that Schroder has always had a way of getting under an opponent’s skin.

“That’s Dennis,” Theis said recently. “He leaves everything on the court no matter who he is playing against, whether it is Isaiah Thomas or Kyrie Irving or somebody from college. He is always the same.”

In the 2016 first-round playoff series between the Hawks and Celtics, Schroder and Thomas tangled often, with Thomas even hitting Schroder in the back of the head as he ran upcourt, resulting in technical fouls for both players and later a flagrant-1 foul on Thomas. Then last season, Schroder accused Thomas of insulting his mother, a charge Thomas vehemently denied.

Theis said he and Schroder still talk about once a week, and that his former youth teammate has been advising him about what life will be like in the NBA.

“He said it’s a big adjustment first with the players being stronger and better, and some other things,” Theis said. “Like, he told me about the traveling. In Europe, Bamberg was a small city so we used to drive, like, three hours to the airport and then flew for four hours and then bus again. So now it will be a little bit easier.”


On the mend

Thomas continues to progress as he recovers from the hip injury in May that sidelined him in the Eastern Conference finals. In recent weeks, the Celtics have had a team staffer in Thomas’s hometown of Tacoma, Wash., to work with him.

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach