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

[Fafnir]

I get people having their own opinion of Kyrie, I also think its weird that for holding Marcus in such high respect so many assume he's bsing and not telling the truth.

[zeitgeist49]

As an individual, Kyrie is antithetical to someone like Bird. Irving's talk is mostly egocentric and nonsense. Bird was always a no nonsense, team player. When Bird would have a bad game and a reporter would ask him about his game, Bird would respond, "I sucked." Kyrie avoids accountability.  I will be happy if Kyrie walks. And next year, the Celts will be better without Irving, whether AD arrives or not.

[Green-18]

Looking back on the timeline of events, I find myself increasingly frustrated because Irving gave the young kids the ammunition they shouldn't have had.  I attribute most of the 10-10 start to the overconfidence of the Eastern Conference Finals group, in addition to Hayward working himself back from injury.  All Kyrie needed to do was keep his mouth shut and put up numbers.

The young kids would have received the majority of the heat for not being ready to play.  Instead, they were given a reason to deflect their shortcomings onto Irving.   

[cltc5]

At what point are the young players that sulked and the young coach they sat around with his thumb in his butt all season gonna be held accountable?

[BringToughnessBack]

KG and Pierce are different kind of weirdo. They are weirdos who are ready to chew you up and fight till the end.

That 2005 playoff exit? It's not like Pierce didn't try. The series went 7 games for a reason. His frustration about losing tells you more about his competitiveness. At least he carried his team to ECF before. Say want you want about him wanting to be traded. He simply just wanted to win.

KG? The guy wants you to get you in his head. The honey-nut-cheerios stuff is something Payton, MJ or Larry Bird would do to take a psychological advantage to their opponent.

Kyrie just laid down and watched his team burn to the ground. His post-game interview also sounds as insincere too. Other players would even cry from frustration because they wanted it badly (IT). He left a winning team (Lebron) to build his own personal brand. Now that he got what he asked, he looked like a deer in the headlight.

Kyrie sure did not "lay" down vs the Warriors in the finals in 2016 when they had zero chance in coming back and winning. You need to have players you can trust to hit big shots supporting you. If not, the alternative is try and do it mostly yourself like early days Jordan. Our entire team was shooting like they had blinders on this past series. It was far from one person responsible for our decline. The fact that Milwaukee did not need to worry about the other shooters on the team allowed them to flood Kyrie with extra defenders on him and make his life hell. Kyrie has been a part of a team that could win and knew how to get to the finals year after year. He apparently did not have trust in his teammates during this past series. Not to say he wont have trust in a better assembled team next year.

I want and hope Kyrie will be the leader of the Celtics for the next decade. I could care less what type of character he might be due to social media coverage.

[zeitgeist49]

I sincerely hope Irving walks. Also, I don't believe Kyrie has the fortitude to handle the criticism he receives in Boston. In addition, I don't believe Wyc will be willing to pay Irving the kind of money he will be demanding. There's no way Irving goes to the Lakers with Lebron. If he did, everyone will be asking Kyrie, "Who's your daddy ?" I see him going to either the Nets or the Clippers. I don't think Kyrie wants to be the next Carmelo of the Knicks.

[Green-18]

At what point are the young players that sulked and the young coach they sat around with his thumb in his butt all season gonna be held accountable?

As I mentioned in my previous post, Kyrie's attitude made it much more difficult to direct the blame towards the young guys.  Instead of receiving a healthy dose of humble pie, the young core was given a reason to deflect blame for the poor start.  If Kyrie said and did the right things, the blame would have fallen upon the young guys for not adjusting to a new roster dynamic in a much improved Conference.  Had this been the case, I believe Tatum, Brown, and Rozier could have figured things out before it was too late.

As for Stevens, I'm not sure how much latitude he had in dealing with Kyrie.  I'm sure Ainge told him to stay patient and avoid conflict.  The prevailing belief is likely that things would have worked themselves out.  If we blame Stevens for his handling of the roster, let's make sure that Ainge and ownership are included.   




 

[seancally]

Bring him back, add AD and suddenly he's the Number 2. Anthony Davis immediately becomes the best player on the team and at least dilutes some of the negative attention on Kyrie. The pieces fit together, Hayward takes another step forward, hopefully we keep Brown, Al opts-in or resigns a different contract with Boston. We start winning, all is forgiven. Let's not be fickle - I will forgive Kyrie 100% if he wins with Boston. Just like we all did with Pierce.

[greenhead85]

Only way he returns to the Celts is CBS is fired. And half the team is gone. Hayward, Brown etc.

Tatum his buddy stays.  Smart stays.  AD is brought in via trade. Other vets that compliment Irving need for space are traded for/signed/drafted.  Basically Irving running the show/architect

something like

1. Celts sign Lue as coach
2. Brown, Rozier (sign and trade), multiple 1st including 2019 Memphis 1st for Davis
3. Hayward traded

Close to this one.
Add AD or a mobile swatter like Bamba.

[Monkhouse]

People that are hating on Kyrie, are forgetting two simple things...

1) We're over the cap, losing Kyrie for nothing will hurt us... Whether or not you dislike him, or you definitely don't want him back, re-signing him, and using him as a trade asset makes far more sense than JUST LETTING him leave.

2) Kyrie has never been a leader, this was his first time. Did he do an awful job? Yeah of course, but last year he was very adamant about helping his team, and you never heard any chemistry issues last year at all... Rozier, Morris, Tatum, and a select few definitely helped to foster that toxic environment. So blaming Kyrie for everything is an truly unfair premise.

[fingerlakes]

I have never seen the diva miss so many shots so badly.  I really question if he was missing his shots on purpose those last 3 games.  Many of his shots were not even close and I really wonder if Kyrie is that messed up mentally to miss on purpose to get back at Celtic Fans.  This guy is one messed up dude and if Danny attempts to resign him, I do not think I can watch them next season.  The guy is a great shooter and I have no other explanation for his performance.

[Roy H.]

The guy would risk his reputation and market value to get back at a small but vocal percentage of Celtics fans?

Kyrie Truthers unite!

[Androslav]

This is on the same level as:
"The Earth is flat"

[Monkhouse]

I have never seen the diva miss so many shots so badly.  I really question if he was missing his shots on purpose those last 3 games.  Many of his shots were not even close and I really wonder if Kyrie is that messed up mentally to miss on purpose to get back at Celtic Fans.  This guy is one messed up dude and if Danny attempts to resign him, I do not think I can watch them next season.  The guy is a great shooter and I have no other explanation for his performance.

Same goes for your outlandish conspiracy theory...

[Donoghus]

The mob got to him.  Clearly influenced his play.   Game was fixed.