But Kyrie's interest in New York has been well documented for quite some time, before he was even traded to the Celtics because he grew up in New Jersey
I don't see what Rich Paul has to do with it.
AD won't join the Celts if Kyrie is not a Celtic.
If there is doubt on Kyrie's future, it might force the Pels to not wait for the Celtics after the season.
According to the article, Rich Paul was forcing the Pels to trade AD to the Lakers.
Rich Paul knows the Celts have and will have the best offer.
Only way to discourage the Pels from dealing with the Celts was to cast doubt on Kyrie's future.
If the Celts lose Kyrie after the season then there's no way the Celts will trade for AD.
I think if Ainge knew Kyrie was leaving after the season, he would have traded Kyrie at the trade deadline.
By not trading Kyrie at the trade deadline, that means the Celts are confident Kyrie will remain in Boston for many years to come.
I don't see how an agent can dictate where a player ends up. It should be the other way around. If Anthony Davis tells Rich Paul , "I want to go to Boston" then it's in Rich Paul's best interest to keep his client happy and try to orchestrate a trade to the Celtics. Then, it's ultimately up to the team where they want to trade their disgruntled player.
The agent works for the client, not the other way around. Then, ultimately it's up to the team where the player ends up (or if they even trade him at all.)
I don't doubt agents try to undermine teams to keep their player happy. But to sit here and say that Rich Paul is responsible for all these rumors of Kyrie wanting to go to New York and Anthony Davis not wanting to go to Boston just doesn't make any sense.
Also, like others have said, Kyrie could've squashed this nonsense by saying "I don't know where you guys are getting this info, but I am STAYING in Boston." But....he didn't. I don't see how this has anything to do with Rich Paul.