Kyrie isn't averaging 8 assists. It's just not his game.
I couldn't disagree more. You're basing this on his time playing alongside LeBron. He averaged 5.8 assists per game last year as the secondary ball handler. He is now being given the keys to the car in a system that is based on sharing the ball. I don't think it's unreasonable at all to expect an uptick in his assist numbers.
This.
I'm surprised nobody else was disappointed with IT's journeyman-like assist numbers given his position and usage. He is good at using his size/speed to split double teams on the p/r and go for the floater or those crazy release shots that somehow went in.
6 assists was as much as IT could do, IMHO, however is KI's floor.
Give credit where it's due: Ainge can tell who the truly special players are and only pays top dollar for those guys, e.g. Garnett (but not Ray, if you recall). He seems to think Irving is one of Those players. And at 25, I must agree.
Cavs fans have been complaining about Irving's isolation, dribbling the clock out, and tunnel vision for years. The Cavs' offense fell off a cliff whenever Lebron sat and Irving had to take on the load because his playmaking ability was subpar. Maybe Stevens helps Irving make better reads, but you two are really overestimating his passing ability. To date, playmaking for others has been a major weakness in Irving's game mainly because he tends to get into spells of isolation and over dribbling.
I'm optimistic with Irving because it seems like he wanted to be somewhere with a good coaching staff. That speaks well of his character, IMO, but I am hesitant to expect major changes to his style of game beyond learning how to play off the ball better. Playmaking for others isn't something players pick up on that easily, but I'm hopeful.
Quote
Thomas averaged 29/6/3 last year.
Yep and Kyrie almost averaged that playing with LeBron go figure, he may average even more here.
Players only end up averaging this much if they have one of these three traits:
Elite foul drawing ability
Historic 3PT% (see Curry in 2015-2016 when he shot 45% from 3 on heavy volume)
Taking lots of shots with mediocre efficiency
Kyrie has never been the type of player to draw a ton of fouls. It's not his style. IT had this ability pre-Stevens (very high free throw rate), and it is something that is rarely able to be learned.
Kyrie probably is never going to shoot 45% from 3 while taking 10 of them a game.
The only path for Kyrie to average close to 30 a game with his style of play is by taking 22-23 shots a game, which Stevens would never allow most likely.
And that's fine. If Irving gives us 25/6/4 a game for the next 7 years I will be good. IT probably only had 2-3 years of that type of production left in him so trading for a guy who can get us that production for 7 years so his prime overlaps with Tatum's and Brown's early prime is a nice thing to have. Like Ainge said, he fits our timeline better. I'm not really sure Ainge makes this trade if IT and Irving are the same age, tbh.
