When the Cavaliers made the trade that sent away Kyrie Irving to Boston, the most critical element of the deal was the insurance policy the team got from the Celtics: the rights to the Nets’ top pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, projected at the time to be a top-five choice in a draft that could feature a handful of franchise cornerstones.

Nearly two months into the season, circumstances have changed for the Cavaliers, but according to league executives, one thing that has not changed has been Cleveland’s unwillingness to part with that Nets’ pick, even as Brooklyn has exceeded expectations, thus dinging the value of the pick.

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“They would be open to a deal by all indications,” one general manager told Sporting News. “But they’re not talking about that pick. That’s the Plan B for the LeBron stuff and from what I know, they don’t want to budge on it.”

“The LeBron stuff” is, of course, the decision star forward LeBron James will make this summer, when he hits free agency. Cleveland will be central to two enormous decisions in the offseason, beginning with what James decides to do, but including whether the Cavs agree to pay guard Isaiah Thomas, currently rehabbing a hip injury, the max salary he will seek.

The Cavaliers are expected to compete for the championship, and anything less than a fourth straight Finals appearance could throw their future into turmoil. The pick from the Nets — which would be No. 10 at this point — would soften the blow if the team lost both James and Thomas, and had to move to an immediate rebuilding situation.

Cleveland has been linked to the Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan and Memphis’ Marc Gasol, but one source said any such deal is still a way off. The primary bait the Cavaliers could offer would be center Tristan Thompson, who has been dealing with a calf injury and has lost his spot as a starter.

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As for the possibility of dealing the pick, one league executive raised the notion that the Cavaliers’ reticence is a smokescreen, hoping to drive up the value of the pick by declaring it untouchable and betting that, eventually, the Nets will slide back in the standings and the pick will land in the top five. But the trade deadline is just six weeks away.

Another factor in dealing the pick: the Warriors, the champs of the West three years running. If Cleveland deals the Nets’ pick, it would have to be for a player who gives them a chance against Golden State.

“The only way they trade that would be a transformational player, someone who can help them win a championship,” one executive said. “I don’t think there is necessarily a player like that out there, at least not what’s been talked about so far. But you’re not going to deal away your chance at a top player in this draft for the right to lose to the Warriors again.”

And so the Cavs still have the Brooklyn pick — and are expected to keep it.