Byerie Irving? Do you want Kyrie back?

What are your thoughts on Kyrie?

  • I want him back on max deal no matter what

    Votes: 60 19.5%
  • I want him back on max deal ONLY if AD is also coming

    Votes: 85 27.6%
  • I’m done with him and don’t want him back under any circumstances

    Votes: 109 35.4%
  • Not sure - I want to see how the playoffs go first

    Votes: 54 17.5%

  • Total voters
    308
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Big John

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Harrell and SGA are part of a decent package - the former is having a breakout season. However the Pelicans may be looking for some more well known names to placate their fans and those two plus Shamet lack notoriety outside of NBA nerd circles. Frankly I might prefer that group to a Ball/Ingram/Kuzma return.
Well since the Feb. 6 trading deadline-- at which time the Clips dumped Bradley and Harris and the Lakers dumped no one except Zubac (to the Clips for Muscala)-- the Clips are 7-4. The LeBrons are 3-8. Triumph of the nerds, I guess.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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You called into WEEI today didn’t you? I’m not even making a snarky comment but as I was driving a caller referring to himself as ‘Big John ‘ called in to make most of the arguments you’ve made here about Kyrie.
 

HowBoutDemSox

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Well since the Feb. 6 trading deadline-- at which time the Clips dumped Bradley and Harris and the Lakers dumped no one except Zubac (to the Clips for Muscala)-- the Clips are 7-4. The LeBrons are 3-8. Triumph of the nerds, I guess.
Lonzo’s been out that entire stretch, Ingram’s missed the last couple (including the head-to-head game) and Kuzma the Denver game; I’m far from a Lonzo defender, but it’s hard to judge which set of youngsters is better when one of the centerpieces hasn’t been playing (and that’s before getting into how imperfect team wins are as a metric in this conversation).
 

NomarsFool

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The Celtics aren't getting an impact player at 14, 18, and twenty-whatever this year. It's going to be more Semis, Yabuseles, Roziers, etc. Players drafted in that range almost never, ever become stars in the league. I know there are a couple of exceptions, but those are super rare.
Pretty much every year, there is an impactful player or two (sometimes three or four) drafted in the 10-20 range (quick glance through the previous 7 years drafts - Mitchell, Collins, Sabonis, Yabusele, Turner, Booker, Lavine, Warren, Nurkic, Harris, CJ, Adams, Giannis, Lamb, Klay, Kawhi, Vucevic, Tobias). So yes, it is sort of rare, and hard to find the guy, but having three picks in that range certainly increases your chances[/QUOTE]

Yabusele is an impactful player? Huh?
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Yabusele has a huge impact on Celtics Twitter. I will say no more except that some of the posts and memes are often amusing.
 

sezwho

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Yabusele has a huge impact on Celtics Twitter. I will say no more except that some of the posts and memes are often amusing.
This is true.

Voted need to see Kyrie in the playoffs, which feels very odd because he’s such an astonishing basketball player. RPM has him at 5 this regular season for example, and I think we are all expecting an uptick when the lights get brighter. To be clear, I think he's still valuable and I’m not letting him go for nothing, but if this team can’t string together a deep playoff run then I’m open to a sign and trade.

Given Stevens will have the full season to see what’s there and a chance to exploit matchups in a series, I need to see Kyrie get them over the top. To be specific, I'm thinking ECF but I know the east is brutal and could waffle if they lose deep to a team that goes to the finals. If they are still playing listless and inconsistent in the playoffs, then maybe @lovegtm is right (back from page 1) and even the playoff skill doesn't overcome whatever leadership faults exist. Either way I think it will show quickly and be hard to overlook.

That said, if getting AD is tied to Kyrie then I'm in no matter what. If I were Kyrie, and the story about Rich Paul is true (he damn sure knows either way) then I'm pissed and my agent is pissed. Any new wedge created by Klutch is great.
 

Big John

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You called into WEEI today didn’t you? I’m not even making a snarky comment but as I was driving a caller referring to himself as ‘Big John ‘ called in to make most of the arguments you’ve made here about Kyrie.
No, I did not call WEEI and I don't listen to or watch any of their current programs.

I called Ted Sarandis one evening about 20 years ago because he was discussing Wes Bialosuknia, whom I had seen drop 50 points in a HS tournament game against Mal Graham's team-- one of the greatest individual performances I've ever witnessed. Sarandis may have been on another station; I'm not sure WEEI even existed at that point.
 
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DJnVa

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Dec 16, 2010
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Irving opens up

“The way I’ve handled things, it hasn’t been perfect,” Irving told Yahoo Sports as he rested his feet in a bucket of ice at his locker stall. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes that I take full responsibility for. I apologize. I haven’t done it perfectly. I haven’t said the right things all the time. I don’t want to sit on a place like I’m on a pedestal from anybody. I’m a normal human being that makes mistakes. For me, I think because of how fixated I was on trying to prove other people wrong, I got into a lot of habits that were bad, like reading stuff and reacting emotionally. That’s just not who I am.”
It’s been about three months since Irving last logged onto one of his social media accounts. It’s his way of fully channeling his energy to the task at hand.

He wants the locker room void of distractions and rifts, while also acknowledging that he hasn’t handled recent issues like a model leader. But he isn’t giving up on the process or the responsibility.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Re the famous plane trip that preceded their West Coast upswing, it turns out that KI was the initiator: https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/how-kyrie-irving-brought-celtics-together-35000-feet

The flight featured more talking than usual. More laughing. More camaraderie. But, Horford finally relented, it all traced back to one person.

Kyrie Irving.

"Kyrie was instrumental because he was the one that initiated everything as far as being like, ‘Hey, let’s have conversations, let’s play cards, let’s do this, let’s do that' on this plane ride,” Horford told NBC Sports Boston after Friday’s practice on the campus of UCLA. "And we were all engaged at that point.

* * * *

"Basically, it was time for us to wake up, and we know this is an important trip for us to finish out the rest of the season, so I guess Brad and Ky talked,” Terry Rozier told NBC Sports Boston during his weekly interview for Celtics Post-Up. "Ky's our leader and when he's in a great mood and he's feeling good, we're hard to beat and it's contagious. It rubs off on everybody else. Sometimes when he's not like that, it can get everybody uptight. So the way he's been acting has been great, and it's been good for us.”
 

tims4wins

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Apropos of nothing, I enjoyed seeing the headline from January 2017 that the Pats were going to their (record) 6th consecutive championship game.
 

sezwho

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For lack a better place to put this, a great piece today in Golden State of Mind: Going to the Knicks won't make Kyrie and KD any less miserable.

Thanks for the link..."New York feeds off of misery like a
tarantula hawk wasp larvae eating its way out of a paralyzed host spider."

I'd be pretty stunned if Kevin "can't beat 'em, join 'em" Durant left a juggernaut to build something from scratch in New York, with our without Kyrie. Knicks could get frisky if they get land Zion I suppose.
 

nighthob

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If the Knicks land #1, Zion’s being bundled up with Knox and DSJ and that “something from scratch” will be Davis/Irving/Durant.
 

E5 Yaz

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Wait ... I was assured by multiple people before the season that this was a done deal after Kyrie declared his intention to stay in Boston
 

southshoresoxfan

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Wait ... I was assured by multiple people before the season that this was a done deal after Kyrie declared his intention to stay in Boston
So a theoretical 14.1% chance of them landing Zion coupled with the off chance they happen to sign Durant carries more water than the player saying he wants to return about 20x before getting fed up with the media asking after every loss if he wants to stay?

Sky is falling.
 

E5 Yaz

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So a theoretical 14.1% chance of them landing Zion coupled with the off chance they happen to sign Durant carries more water than the player saying he wants to return about 20x before getting fed up with the media asking after every loss if he wants to stay?

Sky is falling.
I have no idea what you're talking about. But since you had no idea what I'm talking about, I guess that makes us even
 

BigSoxFan

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Wait ... I was assured by multiple people before the season that this was a done deal after Kyrie declared his intention to stay in Boston
In fairness to those people, moody and temperamental millionaires are generally pretty reliable.
 

HomeRunBaker

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So a theoretical 14.1% chance of them landing Zion coupled with the off chance they happen to sign Durant carries more water than the player saying he wants to return about 20x before getting fed up with the media asking after every loss if he wants to stay?

Sky is falling.
I keep seeing this on Twitter too about Zion but how is that ever a selling point for Kyrie? It would seem like a detriment for any veteran FA to have a 19-year old phenom on their team.
 

lovegtm

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I keep seeing this on Twitter too about Zion but how is that ever a selling point for Kyrie? It would seem like a detriment for any veteran FA to have a 19-year old phenom on their team.
Zion could be insta-flipped for AD.
 

bakahump

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He could be, but would you?

I know AD is a HOFer and Zion is a Freshman phenom. But You would have Zion for 4 years for less then you pay AD for 1.
Maybe #theprocess. But with Lebron 2.0 (or maybe he becomes "Lessbron"....do you feel lucky?)

If i was NY and I win the Zion Sweepstakes. Maybe I can get Kemba. Zion and Kemba and ?? for 2019, FA AD is still a target in 2020 (assuming he doesnt sign with whoever acquires him). You also have the possibility of another Max Player instead in 2021.(Giannis, Otto, Beal, Gobert, Oladipo etc etc)

And with the GS (and Western conference) Boogie Man aged out, Your set for a 5 year run.
 

lovegtm

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He could be, but would you?

I know AD is a HOFer and Zion is a Freshman phenom. But You would have Zion for 4 years for less then you pay AD for 1.
Maybe #theprocess. But with Lebron 2.0 (or maybe he becomes "Lessbron"....do you feel lucky?)

If i was NY and I win the Zion Sweepstakes. Maybe I can get Kemba. Zion and Kemba and ?? for 2019, FA AD is still a target in 2020 (assuming he doesnt sign with whoever acquires him). You also have the possibility of another Max Player instead in 2021.(Giannis, Otto, Beal, Gobert, Oladipo etc etc)

And with the GS (and Western conference) Boogie Man aged out, Your set for a 5 year run.
If they can flip Zion for AD, and that gets KD and Kyrie to sign, the Knicks will do that, and it's not particularly close as far as decisions go.
 

bakahump

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Maybe. I guess I find NBA players more mercurial then you. Not convinced that AD/Durant/Kyrie all end up Knicks. Thats alot of moving parts.

Of course your right in getting "only" 2 is a pretty good haul. But again I am not sure if I would necessarily assume it all shakes out perfectly.

Edit:
If you keep Zion and Assume you can lure at least 1 MAX this year (Kemba would be my target) then that gets you 2 Very good players to build around. If you can get another max (Durant) this year all the better.

I can see the point that Kemba, Durant, Kyrie, AD might not be enamored with playing with a rookie. But on the flip side that Rookie will someday be what might keep a 34yo+ relavant and competing for titles.

All of this is of course if you buy into the notion that Zion is a "generational" talent. (like AD or even Lebron).
 
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DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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I don't love Kyrie as much as some of the other Celtics but the guy is undeniably elite at many things basketball.

 

luckiestman

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Well he was right about LeBron going to the Knicks years ago.
LeBron was going to the Knicks before the Knicks fucked it up is a story he has brought up recently. He had LeBron to the Lakers over a year before the move.

Talent evaluation is very different than sourced info. Simmons seems like he has good NBA info.


As for Kyrie, if there was no cap sure keep him he is a good player. With the cap, I can’t see paying market value for him. Like with all things cap and contract related I defer to @nighthob
 

lovegtm

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I don't love Kyrie as much as some of the other Celtics but the guy is undeniably elite at many things basketball.

I really, really hope they fix this chemistry shit, because Kyrie might be my favorite player in the NBA to watch/root for. Just so unique in so many ways (for better and worse lol).

That hesitation dribble to get the big to recover back to Horford was amazing. He split the double without having to split it. Then he takes off way too early for the layup. Ridiculously creative way to get a great look in a high-leverage spot.
 

lovegtm

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Kobe back at it... Details Breaking Down Kyrie

Great stuff.

Celtics don't screen well enough, it's glaring... Even benhogan favorite Aron Baynes missed a few in the Pacers series...

http://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=f2ae7b6e-a833-4a25-8b2e-9d2bd5cc06e0
Kobe seems way more involved with current Celtics players than anyone on the Lakers. The Celtics should give the Lakers the Jerry West FU, and hire him as some sort of consultant/ambassador.

(Mostly joking, and insert “Tatum taking ALL the long 2s” jokes here)
 

reggiecleveland

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Kobe seems way more involved with current Celtics players than anyone on the Lakers. The Celtics should give the Lakers the Jerry West FU, and hire him as some sort of consultant/ambassador.

(Mostly joking, and insert “Tatum taking ALL the long 2s” jokes here)
Great idea but he will stay as advisor into his 80s and despite dementia will sabotage any attempt to add another advisor.
 

benhogan

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Dang, that was really good from Kobe. Hate the guy, but gotta admit...great to hear a craftsman.
Kobe spent 20 minutes delving into Celtic screens, cuts and ball movement...brilliant stuff

enjoyed his off-handed comment: "Phil would really get mad at us about turnovers, it's always the passer's fault, it would drive me crazy"

 
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