Look, when Davis announced his trade request my immediate reaction was to say
"I feel like this ruins the season". I just felt like the type of distraction it was going to cause was going to infest our fan community and our locker-room and distract from the fact Boston has actually been playing pretty darn well as of late (just had our best month of the season) and still stand a reasonable chance of making the Finals. But instead, here we are bickering and whining about Lakers vs Celtics trade packages, whether Jayson Tatum should be sacrificed, and Kyrie Irving's future.
The heck with this.
First of all, recognize the Rich Paul of it all.
On Davis: They have every incentive to say Lakers or bust, because it's in his best interest to get out of New Orleans as soon as possible (THIS WEEK). Boston isn't in the mix right now so any way they can get Boston to concede, the better. The more hysteria and drama they create, the more they hope the Pelicans react by saying "forget it, we don't want this drama for the next several months" and ship him out right now. If I'm Davis, I'd far prefer to go to the Lakers right now than staying on the Pelicans. That's a no-brainer. Boston will be in the mix if we get to the Summer.
On Kyrie to the Knicks: It's clear there is no real basis for any of this other than Rich Paul leaking comments to his media people try to stir the pot. This is a storyline being pushed by the media - not Kyrie himself.
Could Kyrie leave?: Of course. I've never doubted that. Even when he said he was
planning on staying, my reaction was "no doubt he has Boston as the frontrunner right now, but let's see how he feels in the Summer". What if Boston underachieved? What if his key star sidekicks had career ending injuries? What if Boston got eliminated in the 1st round... and we made it to the Summer and Kevin Durant and Jimmy Butler are somehow signed to a team with a 3rd max cap slot and they are asking Kyrie to come ball? Forget about "Knicks" for a second. I'm talking ANY team. It can be Orlando for all I care. If presented with those choices, who knows what Kyrie might do. That was my point then and that's my point now. There was never any basis that he preferred leaving the Celtics. It's just that you can't predict what the NBA landscape will look like months from now.
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Kyrie's comments today: Make sure to watch the freakin video instead of reading out of context tweets. Why are we punishing this guy for being open and honest about his career? You want him to come out and lie and say he's a Boston lifer? Why would he? He didn't choose to be traded to the Celtics. Yeah, if he were making a decision right now he probably stays with Boston, but the dude is being real when he admits it's not a decision he can make right now. Not only is it going to depend on what Boston offers financially, but it's going to depend on the makeup of the team, who he is playing with, and the overall direction of the franchise. You should like our chances. But listen to the actual interview and it's clear this dude is so outrageously annoyed by everything going on this week.
- Gonna focus on what's best for his career, but right now he's focused on this season: No crap. I can't blame him. It's going to be a tough choice, but it's not something worth him worrying about right now. Boston is trying to compete RIGHT NOW. That's his focus.
- "Ask me about it July 1st" - This dude is clearly fed up with being asked about this stuff. I would too. You know, when he made his offseason declaration he was staying it came after everyone was begging him to do it. "Come on Kyrie, just say you're staying just to shut up the noise". So then he does exactly that and now people are holding it over his head like he wrote down a promise in blood. Leave the guy alone. Stop asking him about something he literally can't make a decision on yet.
- "I respect the Knicks org"... He was asked about the Zinger trade. By the way, listen to his tone... he's so clearly annoyed he even has to answer this question. In regards to zinger he says he respects the knicks are making moves and "best of luck to them"... We're playing the Knicks tonight... this was about as cookie-cutter a response as it can get. What's he supposed to say?... "F New York!"... get real. Just a cookie-cutter soundbite ahead of tonight's match-up against them.
- "This is dumb sh*t" - He goes on to complain that all of this nonsense/media hysteria/etc is just entertainment and "dumb sh*t". He's clearly annoyed that his name is in the mix of these rumors (the Rich Paul of it all). Again, he sounds like he doesn't even want to talk about this crap and I don't blame him.
- "Gonna do my job and see what happens"... yup, just reiterating the same thing. It's a long season. His focus is on the present... as it should be. Don't punish him for not having a crystal ball and being able to see into the future.
- "I don't owe anybody sh*t" - I agree with him. He's talking about how in the past he made career decisions for others, but he doesn't owe anyone anything. This isn't directed at the Celtics. If anything, you could spin this into being directed at Kevin Durant and the Knicks. He's just being honest. He doesn't owe anyone anything - and I agree.
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"I STILL HAVE CONFIDENCE IN BOSTON AND WHAT THEY CAN OFFER FOR THE FUTURE" - Bolding this one, because he goes on to reiterate the same thing I said over the Summer. If he were making his decision right now, Boston would probably be an easy choice. There's a lot to love here. They have a lot of things they can pull off. Yeah, he can't predict the future, but as of right now he has confidence in Boston. This is a positive thing. Embrace it.
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"BOSTON IS STILL AT THE HEAD OF THE RACE" - Bolding this one too, because he flat out says at present Boston is the frontrunner to sign him. He threw ya'll a bone. So maybe get off his back about a decision he literally can't make until Summer.
- "It's a distraction. Trying to avoid it" - Yup. All of this nonsense is a distraction. This is what I was worried about when I said the Davis trade request could ruin the season. Hopefully our guys can tune this out.
- "Storylines can seep into the lockerroom - you guys are part of the destruction of lockerrooms" - I got downvoted on reddit for saying I worried about how this Davis trade would infest our locker-room. Well now you have Kyrie himself admitting that yes - this media hysteria can in-fact destroy lockerrooms. And by taking this stuff out of context on twitter/reddit people are contributing to the mounting frustration players like Kyrie, Tatum, and Brown are probably currently feeling when what we want them to do is lock in and kick butt for the Celtics this season.
- "Doesn't like talking about his life". He goes on to talk about how this is all entertainment and while he respects it, he doesn't want to have to do this part. He doesn't want to be asked about his future every day. Why would he? He literally can't make a decision yet.
Seriously, nothing he said is outlandish. Nothing he said screams "i'm leaving Boston". The dude is being honest. His career decision is going to be very contingent on how the remainder of this season plays out and what Boston can offer him. We have a TON of options on how we can take this franchise. Come Summer, Ainge will be able to sit down with Kyrie and be transparent about how we're going to take the team heading forward. Does Kyrie want to stick around with Tatum and Brown? Ok. Does he want us to trade for Davis? Alright. Does he want us to try and convince Durant to come here in a sign-and-trade (something Jackie Mac and Windhorst brought up as a possibility a month ago)... sure. Boston has incredible flexibility and we no doubt will be the frontrunner to keep Kyrie. At the same time, who knows what's going to happen over the next few months. I reject the idea that there's some "secret conspiracy" and Durant/Kyrie already have plans to join the Knicks together, but I do acknowledge that if Boston has a complete lockerroom meltdown and another team presents a more logical career path for Kyrie, he'll probably take it. Let's make sure we're not contributing to the lockerroom destruction by spreading out of context nonsense.
TL;DR: LEAVE KYRIE ALONE
Topic: I HATE this. Let's not punish our stars for being real. (Read 6372 times)