« Reply #73 on: May 16, 2019, 02:04:22 PM »
IMO the Celtic are in a tough position.
What makes you think Kyrie Irving will play any differently next year than he did last year? Why will he not be the ISO leader of the 2020 Boston Celtics? Is it because we could maybe have Anthony Davis? Is there anything in his past that indicates he can score when he needs to, and distribute the ball thus keeping the players on the floor engaged?
Kyrie wasn't the problem last year, at least on the court.
The Celtics were fifth in the NBA last year in terms of assists per possession, only 0.2 assists per 100 possessions from third place in the NBA. The ball moved just fine.
Kyrie never passing the ball is one of the greatest myths of the 18/19 season. He posted equal or greater assist numbers than guys like Damian Lillard and Kemba Walker (players he's usually compared negatively to) while shooting less.
I agree on the assist numbers. At the same time, the weird thing I saw with the eye test is that the team often fell into long funks where guys were standing around - no off-ball action and quick jump shots. Not sure how to square that.
Adding someone like Davis - meaning, someone on Kyrie's level offensively - probably solves that. Davis wouldn't be standing around, he'd definitely be more involved and it clarifies the roles of the other 3 guys on the floor with them.
Kyrie's on-court production this last year was fantastic. A very efficient 24-7-5 with solid defense. I'd love to see that again. It's the off court/locker room stuff that was a concern.
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