The Kyrie Irving free agency thread(to sign 4yr/$141M w/Nets page 105)

[RJ87]

Did anyone expect anything else from Smart?

I'm glad Smart didn't throw him under the bus. But I anticipated Smart having Kyrie's back.

If there is anyone in that locker room who I would trust to tell the real truth about the goings on inside the team, its Marcus Smart. I think Smart has Kyrie's back because he knows what was and what wasn't a problem. Obviously Marcus feels Kyrie's leadership wasn't the problem.

I wonder if any reporter followed up by asking:" Well, Marcus, if Kyrie's leadership wasn't a problem this year, what was?"

Marcus also backed Kyrie when all the other stuff came to a head with Kyrie and the young guys essentially saying, "he could've went about it better but he's right. If you have a problem with it, you need to look in the mirror." No one ever talked about that though.

[Csfan1984]

Brady gets questioned almlst every loss. No one is exempt.

[ozgod]

This entire season was a train wreck, it's not any one person's fault. We had:

- Gordon taking minutes from others and playing like **** at the start of the season and creating resentment
- Kyrie possibly feeling insecure at the fact that the kids got to the ECF without him. His leadership became more overbearing this season compared to last season when he was more humble and more team-first before his injury
- Rozier and Mook in contract years with the need to show they deserve $$$
- Tatum and Brown wanting bigger roles but having roles reduced due to Gordon's reintegration
- Brad not managing it all
- Danny keeping hold of all his assets because of AD's potential availability instead of tweaking the team and shipping some malcontents out at the trade deadline

Can't pin it all on Kyrie. He didn't cause the other players (except Mook, Al and Jaylen) to shoot below 40% from the field in the Milwaukee series:



That said, he's the leader, he wanted to lead, he said wait till playoffs, he said it was all going to be good, and it wasn't and neither was he. So he absolutely has to take the lion's share of the blame. He has to learn from this and be better. People can accept failure, people fail all the time. It's how you fail, and how you get back up again, that shows character. That's what Kyrie needs to show now, if he's going to stick around.

[Monkhouse]

If Kyrie leaves the Celtics, I'll be upset. I still think he should stay and see what Ainge can build around him, as I'm sure there are internal discussions going on right now.

[Silky]

Give me
Irving
Smart
Brown
Horford
Davis

And a bench of
Beverly
Moore
Carter
Morris
Baynes

[ozgod]

I think he stays in Boston one more year at least. See if he can get the roster he wants and take a shot. He can always demand a trade after that if it doesn't work out, and I'm sure there will be plenty of takers.

[Chris22]

I don't want to ever see this guy in a Celtics uniform again.

[ozgod]

We're all hammering Kyrie for his failures in everything from leadership, to his play on the court, to his performance off the court, and rightfully so. He wanted the limelight, he told us all wait for the playoffs, he was going to take care of it all, and he didn't, so he deserves the criticism. But let's not forget he's been here for TWO years, not one.

He missed the playoffs last season but he was here up through till Game 67 - March 11, 2018. At that point Boston had a 46-21 record which was 2nd in the East to Toronto who were 49-17. Just to show how far ahead we and Toronto were at that point, Indiana were 3rd at 39-28, Cleveland were 38-28 in 4th spot, Philly was 36-28 with a bunch of other teams (Washington, Miami) just behind them. He was a big part of how we got to the playoffs with a high seed in the first place, even if he was injured before it.

My memory is hazy but I can't remember people being glad that Kyrie got injured because he was a team cancer. In fact I don't really remember too many negative things said about Kyrie back then. I remember him talking a lot about team and being a lot more humble. He spearheaded our 16-0 run early in the season. It's only THIS year that all the negativity came out, accompanying our average start to the season. That was when he started criticizing young teammates, talking about lack of experience, etc.

Maybe he got insecure because he got injured and the team ended up getting to the ECF without him. (I thought that may have been why he committed verbally early - he wanted to feel wanted and loved? Who knows?) Maybe they stopped listening to him as much and he felt the need to overcompensate by belittling their experience. Maybe last year there weren't many expectations because it was pretty much a new team and nobody expected them to gel immediately. Maybe the questions about his free agency got to him this season. But something changed between last year and this year - both in terms of his public persona and the way he was perceived.

Thoughts?

[Tr1boy]

My stance on Irving is that he deserves the lion's share of the blame for the team's lack of togetherness this season. There is no "1a" culprit for me. It's:

Blame Tier 1: Irving
Blame TIer 2: ------------
Blame Tier 3: ------------
Blame Tier 4: Everyone else besides Al Horford, Aron Baynes, and Marcus Smart because they are the real heroes.

I believe that.

But I also believe that he's smart enough and driven enough to learn from this season and come back a radically different player. And be a radically different leader. Damian Lillard used his butt-whoopin from the Pelicans as an anvil to temper his leadership and poise and came back stronger. There is no reason 25 27 year old Kyrie couldn't do the same.

Dame 2018 playoffs:
18/4/4/1/0 w/ 4 TOV on 35/30/88 splits
Swept first round

Kyrie 2019 playoffs:
21/7/4/1/0 w/ 3 TOV on 39/31/90 splits
4-1 2nd round loss

It sucks, but sometimes good players struggle at bad times. You resign him because the talent is evident and you hope he takes something from this experience.

not surprised by this

why not also sign Rondo while we are at it

Let's bring back Jordan Mickey too.

The Mickey joke is old news

if thats all you got lol

[Tr1boy]

Give me
Irving
Smart
Brown
Horford
Davis

And a bench of
Beverly
Moore
Carter
Morris
Baynes

And how is this roster possible??

who is Moore, Carter?

[cman88]

I think last year guys like Brown/Tatum/Rozier were relative unknowns and played their roles probably deferred to Kyrie as he was the elder statesman and all-star.

Then the long run happened, the "scary terry" T-shirts. and now guys think they are all-stars as well and don't really need Kyrie to win. just look at Terry's most recent quote that he sacrificed more than anyone and dealt with alot of BS.

 Tatum is taking ISO-two pointers rather than letting the game come to him (which he did last year. he started as a spot of 3 point shooter and later started to assert himself driving to the paint.) Rozier started jacking up shots to earn his big contract. and Jaylen is trying to find his role in all of this.

I think at the end of the year only Jaylen Brown you really can say found his role. Hi play in the playoffs was exceptional.

[Rosco917]

How he could leave the Celtics on this note would be embarrassing for him. He will announce that he is staying in Boston, perhaps on a shorter deal.

OR

He will join Lebron in LA, admitting to the World, "I need Daddy."   

[RJ87]

My stance on Irving is that he deserves the lion's share of the blame for the team's lack of togetherness this season. There is no "1a" culprit for me. It's:

Blame Tier 1: Irving
Blame TIer 2: ------------
Blame Tier 3: ------------
Blame Tier 4: Everyone else besides Al Horford, Aron Baynes, and Marcus Smart because they are the real heroes.

I believe that.

But I also believe that he's smart enough and driven enough to learn from this season and come back a radically different player. And be a radically different leader. Damian Lillard used his butt-whoopin from the Pelicans as an anvil to temper his leadership and poise and came back stronger. There is no reason 25 27 year old Kyrie couldn't do the same.

Dame 2018 playoffs:
18/4/4/1/0 w/ 4 TOV on 35/30/88 splits
Swept first round

Kyrie 2019 playoffs:
21/7/4/1/0 w/ 3 TOV on 39/31/90 splits
4-1 2nd round loss

It sucks, but sometimes good players struggle at bad times. You resign him because the talent is evident and you hope he takes something from this experience.

not surprised by this

why not also sign Rondo while we are at it

Let's bring back Jordan Mickey too.

The Mickey joke is old news

if thats all you got lol

Are you senile? You just brought up Rondo, which is even older.

[cman88]

This entire season was a train wreck, it's not any one person's fault. We had:

- Gordon taking minutes from others and playing like **** at the start of the season and creating resentment
- Kyrie possibly feeling insecure at the fact that the kids got to the ECF without him. His leadership became more overbearing this season compared to last season when he was more humble and more team-first before his injury
- Rozier and Mook in contract years with the need to show they deserve $$$
- Tatum and Brown wanting bigger roles but having roles reduced due to Gordon's reintegration
- Brad not managing it all
- Danny keeping hold of all his assets because of AD's potential availability instead of tweaking the team and shipping some malcontents out at the trade deadline

Can't pin it all on Kyrie. He didn't cause the other players (except Mook, Al and Jaylen) to shoot below 40% from the field in the Milwaukee series:



That said, he's the leader, he wanted to lead, he said wait till playoffs, he said it was all going to be good, and it wasn't and neither was he. So he absolutely has to take the lion's share of the blame. He has to learn from this and be better. People can accept failure, people fail all the time. It's how you fail, and how you get back up again, that shows character. That's what Kyrie needs to show now, if he's going to stick around.

pretty much this. Lets see what Danny does this summer. He blew up the team that made it to the ECF with Crowder/Isaiah Thomas....so we know that Danny is definitely not going to be content rolling out the same roster next year.

[keevsnick]

Give me
Irving
Smart
Brown
Horford
Davis

And a bench of
Beverly
Moore
Carter
Morris
Baynes

And how is this roster possible??

who is Moore, Carter?

I imagine he wants to trade Hayward and Tatum for Davis, bring back Etuan Moore the Pelicans SG in edition to Davis. Resign Mook with bird rights, Beverly with the MLE and Vince Carter on the vet min.