I'm more excited than I was at the time. After watching Irving play, his potential is elite. He has great vision, but he is still struggling with timing. Sometimes, it would be better for him to keep the ball moving, but that might be more about other guys not being in the right place. His offense is so good, and when his timing catches up, he will be dropping 30 a game.
Also, he has been a net positive defensively. He's not been perfect. He has gotten lost a few times and played oley defense a few times, but the vast majority of the time he has been in the right place, playing hard, and being disruptive (steals, blocks, and charges). Although he is a mismatch on some switches, he is not nearly the mismatch I thought he would be. In fact, he's made some disruptive plays in those situations. He has a 97 defensive rating through 5 games. That's a small sample size, but its also elite. He has a 1.8 DBPM. That's really good. Not only has been not been a net negative on defense, he's actually been really good.
I'm excited for his potential on this team. I'm excited at the way he has connected with Rozier, Tatum, and Horford on the court. I'm excited to shut everyone up and claim the #1 seed again this year without Gordon Hayward (i mean, seriously Irving=Thomas, Brown>Bradley, Tatum>Crowder, Baynes>Johnson, Horford=Horford, 2017-18 bench>2016-17 bench). I'm excited for the Cavs to implode as Lebron watches Kyrie put up 50 points in game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals. I'm excited to see Hayward work his way back into shape throughout the playoffs and be ready to go full-tilt against the Warriors. I'm excited for another Celtic Championship.