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

[IDreamCeltics]

All I hear about is how Kyrie is leaving. Well why?

It literally makes no sense if they call him at midnight and offer him the 4 year Max and tell him he's their franchise player now and In the future.


We have a great ownership group, shrewd management, in the most winning sports town in the country. We are the best sports town literally right now. We should we lose a prized free agent? Who's projecting this crap?


He's not going to find a better situation in regards to management. Danny needs to step up and properly build around him this summer, and Brad needs to conform to Kyrie's playing style. If they let him know that from the jump, he stays.

Actually, he forced his way out of a better situation.  You might remember the team he played on previously made the NBA finals 3 seasons in a row and won a championship before he forced them to trade him with 2 years left on his contract.

Don't confuse Kyrie's malcontent for a desire for stability or a winning environment.

Way to ignore the writing on the wall that everyone, including Kyrie, could see that said that LeBron was leaving. Why would he want to be stuck on a team with injury-prone Kevin Love and all LeBron's friends that he made Cleveland overpay?

If you think Cleveland's ownership, management, coaching and prestige is better than ours I don't know what to say.

The Cavs literally made the NBA finals again last season without Kyrie... you might remember them beating the Celtics in game 7 of the ECF (don't sweat it, Kyrie doesn't remember that game either)... Kyrie would have had one season left on his contract after Lebron's contract ended...

He couldn't have: A. Demanded a trade last offseason? B. Seen if Lebron might want to resign a 1 year deal to play with him and go to a 6th straight finals?  C. Actually honor the contract he signed and "be the man" for the team that made him an NBA champion?

The guy isn't unhappy because of his situation, the guy is unhappy because he's unhappy and blames it on the situation.  That's not something anyone is fixing. 

[Tr1boy]

All I hear about is how Kyrie is leaving. Well why?

It literally makes no sense if they call him at midnight and offer him the 4 year Max and tell him he's their franchise player now and In the future.


We have a great ownership group, shrewd management, in the most winning sports town in the country. We are the best sports town literally right now. We should we lose a prized free agent? Who's projecting this crap?


He's not going to find a better situation in regards to management. Danny needs to step up and properly build around him this summer, and Brad needs to conform to Kyrie's playing style. If they let him know that from the jump, he stays.

Actually, he forced his way out of a better situation.  You might remember the team he played on previously made the NBA finals 3 seasons in a row and won a championship before he forced them to trade him with 2 years left on his contract.

Don't confuse Kyrie's malcontent for a desire for stability or a winning environment.

Way to ignore the writing on the wall that everyone, including Kyrie, could see that said that LeBron was leaving. Why would he want to be stuck on a team with injury-prone Kevin Love and all LeBron's friends that he made Cleveland overpay?

If you think Cleveland's ownership, management, coaching and prestige is better than ours I don't know what to say.

The Cavs literally made the NBA finals again last season without Kyrie... you might remember them beating the Celtics in game 7 of the ECF (don't sweat it, Kyrie doesn't remember that game either)... Kyrie would have had one season left on his contract after Lebron's contract ended...

He couldn't have: A. Demanded a trade last offseason? B. Seen if Lebron might want to resign a 1 year deal to play with him and go to a 6th straight finals?  C. Actually honor the contract he signed and "be the man" for the team that made him an NBA champion?

The guy isn't unhappy because of his situation, the guy is unhappy because he's unhappy and blames it on the situation.  That's not something anyone is fixing.

[gouki88]

All I hear about is how Kyrie is leaving. Well why?

It literally makes no sense if they call him at midnight and offer him the 4 year Max and tell him he's their franchise player now and In the future.


We have a great ownership group, shrewd management, in the most winning sports town in the country. We are the best sports town literally right now. We should we lose a prized free agent? Who's projecting this crap?


He's not going to find a better situation in regards to management. Danny needs to step up and properly build around him this summer, and Brad needs to conform to Kyrie's playing style. If they let him know that from the jump, he stays.

Actually, he forced his way out of a better situation.  You might remember the team he played on previously made the NBA finals 3 seasons in a row and won a championship before he forced them to trade him with 2 years left on his contract.

Don't confuse Kyrie's malcontent for a desire for stability or a winning environment.

Way to ignore the writing on the wall that everyone, including Kyrie, could see that said that LeBron was leaving. Why would he want to be stuck on a team with injury-prone Kevin Love and all LeBron's friends that he made Cleveland overpay?

If you think Cleveland's ownership, management, coaching and prestige is better than ours I don't know what to say.

The Cavs literally made the NBA finals again last season without Kyrie... you might remember them beating the Celtics in game 7 of the ECF (don't sweat it, Kyrie doesn't remember that game either)... Kyrie would have had one season left on his contract after Lebron's contract ended...

He couldn't have: A. Demanded a trade last offseason? B. Seen if Lebron might want to resign a 1 year deal to play with him and go to a 6th straight finals?  C. Actually honor the contract he signed and "be the man" for the team that made him an NBA champion?

The guy isn't unhappy because of his situation, the guy is unhappy because he's unhappy and blames it on the situation.  That's not something anyone is fixing.

Absolutely meaningless that they made it to the Finals. Completely irrelevant.

I'm not going to bother with this though. Time and again it's pointless to

[celticsclay]

this thread is awful

[RJ87]

All I hear about is how Kyrie is leaving. Well why?

It literally makes no sense if they call him at midnight and offer him the 4 year Max and tell him he's their franchise player now and In the future.


We have a great ownership group, shrewd management, in the most winning sports town in the country. We are the best sports town literally right now. We should we lose a prized free agent? Who's projecting this crap?


He's not going to find a better situation in regards to management. Danny needs to step up and properly build around him this summer, and Brad needs to conform to Kyrie's playing style. If they let him know that from the jump, he stays.

Actually, he forced his way out of a better situation.  You might remember the team he played on previously made the NBA finals 3 seasons in a row and won a championship before he forced them to trade him with 2 years left on his contract.

Don't confuse Kyrie's malcontent for a desire for stability or a winning environment.

Way to ignore the writing on the wall that everyone, including Kyrie, could see that said that LeBron was leaving. Why would he want to be stuck on a team with injury-prone Kevin Love and all LeBron's friends that he made Cleveland overpay?

If you think Cleveland's ownership, management, coaching and prestige is better than ours I don't know what to say.

The Cavs literally made the NBA finals again last season without Kyrie... you might remember them beating the Celtics in game 7 of the ECF (don't sweat it, Kyrie doesn't remember that game either)... Kyrie would have had one season left on his contract after Lebron's contract ended...

He couldn't have: A. Demanded a trade last offseason? B. Seen if Lebron might want to resign a 1 year deal to play with him and go to a 6th straight finals?  C. Actually honor the contract he signed and "be the man" for the team that made him an NBA champion?

The guy isn't unhappy because of his situation, the guy is unhappy because he's unhappy and blames it on the situation.  That's not something anyone is fixing.

Lol, honor a contract? Teams trade players left and right, guys demand trades all the time. Contracts in the NBA aren't about honor or loyalty, they're about leverage and assets.

Everyone knew Lebron was leaving for LA a full year before it happened. Everyone. The Lakers signed Kentavious Caldwell Pope to a bloated contract so they could have access to him through Rich Paul. This is pretty well understood.

And its worth noting that Kyrie signed his contract with Cleveland before Lebron signed with them again. He never signed on for the Lebron experience. They completely forfeited their future to win now and the team wasn't built to withstand Lebron's departure because it was crafted with him as the centerpiece. So if you're Kyrie and the Cavs just tried to trade you (a trade that died because Lebron wouldn't commit to staying even if they got Paul freaking George), do you waste a year of your prime to see what rubble Lebron leaves behind or do you head him off at the pass?

[philr13]

Well.... we only have about a month left to beat this dead horse, so I guess I'll pose a question that's been on my mind regarding Kyrie.

How many options does he really have besides Boston?

The Lakers situation is pretty unstable, plus he has personal and professional issues there. The Knicks are awful, and they will continue to be awful even if they add Irving and one of his best friends. Brooklyn might not really be interested in him. They have Russell to think about. All the conjecture about Irving going to Brooklyn is about location, not any sign that there is mutual interest.

If he really wants to leave Boston his best option might be to do what Chris Paul did. He can opt-in to facilitate a trade to a team that has a chance at a title run, and truly wants him on their roster. He'll leave some money on the table next year, but he did that to facilitate the trade to Boston. He can then sign one-and-one contracts going forward to maximize his value. Something like that. I wonder about teams like Houston or San Antonio for him.

[Pvictor11]

Well.... we only have about a month left to beat this dead horse, so I guess I'll pose a question that's been on my mind regarding Kyrie.

How many options does he really have besides Boston?

The Lakers situation is pretty unstable, plus he has personal and professional issues there. The Knicks are awful, and they will continue to be awful even if they add Irving and one of his best friends. Brooklyn might not really be interested in him. They have Russell to think about. All the conjecture about Irving going to Brooklyn is about location, not any sign that there is mutual interest.

If he really wants to leave Boston his best option might be to do what Chris Paul did. He can opt-in to facilitate a trade to a team that has a chance at a title run, and truly wants him on their roster. He'll leave some money on the table next year, but he did that to facilitate the trade to Boston. He can then sign one-and-one contracts going forward to maximize his value. Something like that. I wonder about teams like Houston or San Antonio for him.

To answer that you need to think like Kyrie. He probably views himself as a superstar, capable of being "The Man", a top 5 or 10 player in the league. He probably doesn't view himself like we, the média or his teamates do. So, in his head, he has a lot of options because he thinks he can take any team to the playoffs, regardless of the roster.
I don't think he is this instant contender type of guy, but if he said right now that he would not resign in Boston and would listen offers of any team, I think every GM with cap space would want him.

[philr13]

Well.... we only have about a month left to beat this dead horse, so I guess I'll pose a question that's been on my mind regarding Kyrie.

How many options does he really have besides Boston?

The Lakers situation is pretty unstable, plus he has personal and professional issues there. The Knicks are awful, and they will continue to be awful even if they add Irving and one of his best friends. Brooklyn might not really be interested in him. They have Russell to think about. All the conjecture about Irving going to Brooklyn is about location, not any sign that there is mutual interest.

If he really wants to leave Boston his best option might be to do what Chris Paul did. He can opt-in to facilitate a trade to a team that has a chance at a title run, and truly wants him on their roster. He'll leave some money on the table next year, but he did that to facilitate the trade to Boston. He can then sign one-and-one contracts going forward to maximize his value. Something like that. I wonder about teams like Houston or San Antonio for him.

To answer that you need to think like Kyrie. He probably views himself as a superstar, capable of being "The Man", a top 5 or 10 player in the league. He probably doesn't view himself like we, the média or his teamates do. So, in his head, he has a lot of options because he thinks he can take any team to the playoffs, regardless of the roster.
I don't think he is this instant contender type of guy, but if he said right now that he would not resign in Boston and would listen offers of any team, I think every GM with cap space would want him.

I think you've mentioned the thing that's puzzling me a little. The assumption is that his options are the teams with cap space. I'm not sure those teams are really his best options. His salary next season is 21M if he opts-in. That's a workable number for trading purposes. He could easily engineer a trade to a team that doesn't have enough cap space to sign him outright.

[tazzmaniac]

Well.... we only have about a month left to beat this dead horse, so I guess I'll pose a question that's been on my mind regarding Kyrie.

How many options does he really have besides Boston?

The Lakers situation is pretty unstable, plus he has personal and professional issues there. The Knicks are awful, and they will continue to be awful even if they add Irving and one of his best friends. Brooklyn might not really be interested in him. They have Russell to think about. All the conjecture about Irving going to Brooklyn is about location, not any sign that there is mutual interest.

If he really wants to leave Boston his best option might be to do what Chris Paul did. He can opt-in to facilitate a trade to a team that has a chance at a title run, and truly wants him on their roster. He'll leave some money on the table next year, but he did that to facilitate the trade to Boston. He can then sign one-and-one contracts going forward to maximize his value. Something like that. I wonder about teams like Houston or San Antonio for him.

With his injury history, Kyrie signing one-and-one contracts would be rather risky.  He's played 8 seasons so a two-and-one contract would allow him to opt out after two seasons to get the 35% Max. 

Russell isn't good enough to dissuade Brooklyn from going after Irving.  Offering Russell a Max contract is a questionable decision.  Kyrie wouldn't go to the Knicks by himself so them being awful now doesn't matter much.  Can't see Kyrie wanting to play with Harden and he's most certainly not going to San Antonio. 

[philr13]

Well.... we only have about a month left to beat this dead horse, so I guess I'll pose a question that's been on my mind regarding Kyrie.

How many options does he really have besides Boston?

The Lakers situation is pretty unstable, plus he has personal and professional issues there. The Knicks are awful, and they will continue to be awful even if they add Irving and one of his best friends. Brooklyn might not really be interested in him. They have Russell to think about. All the conjecture about Irving going to Brooklyn is about location, not any sign that there is mutual interest.

If he really wants to leave Boston his best option might be to do what Chris Paul did. He can opt-in to facilitate a trade to a team that has a chance at a title run, and truly wants him on their roster. He'll leave some money on the table next year, but he did that to facilitate the trade to Boston. He can then sign one-and-one contracts going forward to maximize his value. Something like that. I wonder about teams like Houston or San Antonio for him.

With his injury history, Kyrie signing one-and-one contracts would be rather risky.  He's played 8 seasons so a two-and-one contract would allow him to opt out after two seasons to get the 35% Max. 

Russell isn't good enough to dissuade Brooklyn from going after Irving.  Offering Russell a Max contract is a questionable decision.  Kyrie wouldn't go to the Knicks by himself so them being awful now doesn't matter much.  Can't see Kyrie wanting to play with Harden and he's most certainly not going to San Antonio.

I see. The 2-and-1 makes sense. I don't know what team would be involved, but this does reinforce the idea that his options aren't limited to teams with cap space.

[Who]

D'Angelo Russell and Kyrie Irving can play together. Russell has always been more of a combo guard than a true PG. Both guys can play on and off the ball ...

.. and I think Kyrie will work better with a guy like D'Angelo Russell than players like Tatum / Jaylen because of Russell's ability to handle the ball and play in a PnR dominated offense. I think Kyrie will better understand Russell's game and to work with him. More similar to his own (and LeBron's). I think Kyrie likes playing with ball-handlers better than guys like Tatum or Jaylen who are more limited as creators.

Anyway, just saying those two guys (Kyrie, D'Angelo Russell) can play well together. I think they'd have good chemistry together.

[Pvictor11]

D'Angelo Russell and Kyrie Irving can play together. Russell has always been more of a combo guard than a true PG. Both guys can play on and off the ball ...

.. and I think Kyrie will work better with a guy like D'Angelo Russell than players like Tatum / Jaylen because of Russell's ability to handle the ball and play in a PnR dominated offense. I think Kyrie will better understand Russell's game and to work with him. More similar to his own (and LeBron's). I think Kyrie likes playing with ball-handlers better than guys like Tatum or Jaylen who are more limited as creators.

Anyway, just saying those two guys (Kyrie, D'Angelo Russell) can play well together. I think they'd have good chemistry together.

I don't know about that. Russell Never really had to play a lot off ball.

Kyrie can, but I'm not sure he will ever be willing to

[philr13]

D'Angelo Russell and Kyrie Irving can play together. Russell has always been more of a combo guard than a true PG. Both guys can play on and off the ball ...

.. and I think Kyrie will work better with a guy like D'Angelo Russell than players like Tatum / Jaylen because of Russell's ability to handle the ball and play in a PnR dominated offense. I think Kyrie will better understand Russell's game and to work with him. More similar to his own (and LeBron's). I think Kyrie likes playing with ball-handlers better than guys like Tatum or Jaylen who are more limited as creators.

Anyway, just saying those two guys (Kyrie, D'Angelo Russell) can play well together. I think they'd have good chemistry together.

You'd have to sign both of them to very lucrative contracts this summer. That's a lot of money and cap space to risk because you think they can work it out. The question is, do you really need both of them that badly, or should the money be spent elsewhere?

[Big333223]

I feel totally at peace with whatever Kyrie does.

I'd like to see him come back and learn from his mistakes in the locker room. On the court, he was phenomenal last season and well worth the max salary.

But if he doesn't come back, then I was wrong about him and he's the type of guy who will cut and run when he sees a little adversity and I don't want that guy on my team.

Basically, if he decides to come back, I'm happy, and if he decides to walk, I'm happy not to have him around.

[nickagneta]

I feel totally at peace with whatever Kyrie does.

I'd like to see him come back and learn from his mistakes in the locker room. On the court, he was phenomenal last season and well worth the max salary.

But if he doesn't come back, then I was wrong about him and he's the type of guy who will cut and run when he sees a little adversity and I don't want that guy on my team.

Basically, if he decides to come back, I'm happy, and if he decides to walk, I'm happy not to have him around.

Kind of in the same position right now. If we get Davis, I really want Kyrie back, but if there is no Davis, maybe going young and moving on from Kyrie, if he doesn't want to be here, is best for everyone.

It will suck because it just pushes getting the next title down the road a way, like maybe 5 years or more...maybe much more. If there is no Kyrie or Davis, I feel comfortable saying that.