Think about it though...with this core - Hayward, Jaylen, Tatum, Al - are you better off with Kyrie or with Smart and Rozier? This team's calling card is it's defense and Hayward's going to solve a lot of issues next year. You can always find shooters.
Nothing is etched in stone - especially with Ainge calling the shots. Let's see how Rozier plays next season.
I think this is a really valid question. I'm not entirely sold that the team is better with Kyrie than without.
My question is, who are we trading Kyrie for? I don't think it makes any sense at all just to plan on letting him walk in free agency. We'd need to get a serious asset in return.
At that point, I think there's a legit debate that the asset + Rozier is better for this team than Kyrie + Rozier.
I'm doubtful that an upgrade will be available, especially with respect to fit. He was also a costly acquisition, and obviously a great player. It would probably be a mistake to let him walk.
My concern is how his high usage rate may affect the growth of our youth and even what's making the team so successful now. High high usage (in part, time of possession) + his need for a lot of space to create his own could detract from what's working so well. And it's tough to imagine Tatum and Brown, in particular, reverting to smaller roles.
Of course Tatum and Brown are going to revert to smaller roles. And there will be no issues either.
You seem to say that flippantly, as if it doesn't matter. It could not only hurt their growth, but detract from the quality of the team as soon as next season. Tatum has scored 20 points in 5 straight playoff games, and Jaylen has been awesome this year. Pretty phenomenal for their age and level of experience.
Golden State manages with two guys who shoot more than Kyrie, Klay and Draymond all handling the ball a lot. I really don’t see that being a problem at all
I see two important differences: 1. GSW aren't developing a 20- and 21-year old that have had a phenomenal playoffs and are showing star potential; 2. Number of shots differ from time of possession with respect to usage; Kyrie seems to be less efficient in his ability to create shots (not to be confused with shooting efficiency).
I just don't get how point 1 could ever be remedied. We have too much talent for JT and JB to get a regular high usage. If we trade Kyrie for Kawhi, we have a guy who is more of a ball-stopper than Kyrie (defence though),
and a worse passing PG in Rozier. If we don't trade Kyrie, we have a 20-25ppg point guard who looks to score first. Either way JT and JB won't see the same amount of touches, unless Al starts shooting like 6 times a game and focuses on passing (which isn't unrealistic).
With point 2, I think we need to give him a year where he's healthy and actually running the point surrounded by the weapons we have. He had weapons in Cleveland, but also was the secondary guy. But #2 might be true anyway