My thoughts have not changed. It would obviously be better not to lose him for nothing and, no, I don't think Rozier is the answer, but I believe we are better off, in the long run, without Kyrie Irving. My preference would have been to trade him before the deadline for two guards - a playmaker point guard and a knock-down shooter.
Fans get caught up in Irving's isolated dazzling offensive displays and think, "see, if we don't have Irving's 30 points tonite, we are down 2-0 in this series." What people are missing is that, Irving's domination of the ball and shot clock usually paralyzes the other four players, who are left to stand and watch. They don't get involved offensively and become less active and less engaged on both ends of the court. We don't have the same type of players that Houston has, which better enables them to stand and react to Harden's dribbling forays - No, the Celtics have players who need to be moving to be effective, they need the ball moving, they need to be cutting away from the ball, they need to catch the ball within the offense, which allows them an open shot in rhythm or allows them to create offense for themselves or a teammate. Yes Irving did get out of the way in Game 4, but that is a rare ocurrence. Has their ever been an NBA champion with a point guard, who eats up the shot-clock dribbling on the perimeter like Irving does. Actually, I don't think the problem is that Kyrie is a selfish player who wants his points above all else - I just think it's his natural style and that it clashes with the playing style of the rest of the team Also, because he makes a couple of spectacular steals in the 4th quarter doesn't mean he is playing solid, consistent possession-after-possession team defense over the course of the entire game.
The other issue with Irving is his emotional inconsistency. Sure, right now after sweeping the first series, he is all smiles and loves playing for the Celtics. But when we hit a rough patch in these playoffs, lose a couple of games and the fans become upset, Irving most likely will revert to the moody, sullen, silent mal-content he was during stretches of the regular season. Again, that's simply his nature. He is not doing it on purpose or trying to sabatoge the Boston Celtics.
I suppose I just have a different perspective than most Celtic fans.