I'm not going to judge him game by game. Kyrie is better than he's shown.
I still hate the trade, haha.
TP. Much respect. We don't have to see eye to eye, but your take is well thought out. The chicken littles irritate me waaay more than the anti Irving camp.
I think Kyrie's value proposition is very similar to IT's. If you need a bucket when it counts, they will get it for you. Almost any contender needs a similar bucket getter. They're not going to average 10 assists per game, which will irritate many fans who have a certain expectation of a PG. They're not Steve Nash or Jason Kidd. Unlike those two, Kyrie has actually hit a championship winning shot. Oh, and he's only 25- a couple of years away from his prime.
Loved IT, but he was going to be too pricey, was hurt, and had already hit his prime (in terms of age). While we can expect Kyrie to improve, its a tougher sell for IT.
Yeah but with the value we gave up it should be reasonable to expect great production off the bat. I hope he becomes great but rn he's not even at the level he was in Cleveland last year production wise.
Eh, maybe. I thought there was consensus that there would be growing pains with such high turnover. The Celtics are trying to implement a game plan to win current and future games. I'm not expecting that plan to be complete before the season started. I actually think the Celtics could have a tough time over the next year and a half (even if they had a healthy Gordon Hayward). Kyrie plays for the Celtics, and while he is known for his ISO skills, he is still working with teammates.
In the NBA, 3 quarters, two dimes, and a nickle do not equal a dollar. Usually it takes an overpay to get the best player in the trade. In a vacuum (ignoring context), I understand that people think that IT is as good or better than Kyrie. Once context is added, I don't understand how people think that an injured IT going into FA is a better asset than Kyrie. That argument doesn't make sense, at least to me.
Danny had been waiting years to cash in with his bundle of assets. Once Irving became available, he did what he had to do to acquire the best player. He had passed multiple times previously on acquiring top talent, and this was his time to do so. Also, he still has Brown, Tatum, and the LAL/SAC pick (and maybe the MEM pick) that could be traded for another NBA star.