Will Kyrie mess up Ainge plan?

[JHTruth]

It will absolutely hurt losing your best player.  Even if Kyrie walks the C's won't have cap space unless Horford opts out.  If Horford opts in and Kyrie leaves the C's will resign Terry.  They will still be title contenders but not as high of a title contender with Kyrie.  Hopefully the Sac pick is #2 and we get a Kyrie replacement if he leaves.  A lot of if's next year. 

As for the Kyrie to NYC rumors even if they can sign Kyrie and Butler the Knicks are still not the top team in the east and have no shot at the Western teams.  Kyrie has a better chance at a title in Boston then anywhere and winning in Boston is unlike winning anywhere else.  Ask Pierce, KG, Allen, Rondo.  There are no other franchises like Boston other then maybe LA and we all know he'd never go there.

There's no Kyrie replacement in the 2019 draft. The highest ranked PG is probably going late lottery.

But I think Terry is very good but that's just me..

[boscel33]

I don't believe he messes anything up.  Keep in mind, Brown/Tatum contracts will come up in a couple of years.  Signing Kyrie, would probably rule one of those two out whereas keeping Terry would allow us to keep both, plus Hayward.

[Fafnir]

Wait, we got a nearly 400 word talk about the Knicks exciting young core and no mention of their big FA of 2017?

 

Lets not overstate how well run they are, I think they're incredibly talent poor other than Porzingis and he just tore his ACL and has had other injury concerns.

Kyrie might leave, but I think the C's have done everything right with him so far afaik. So the team should contend for a Title this year and that's as good a position you can be with a FA.

[Fafnir]

I don't believe he messes anything up.  Keep in mind, Brown/Tatum contracts will come up in a couple of years.  Signing Kyrie, would probably rule one of those two out whereas keeping Terry would allow us to keep both, plus Hayward.

I do not think retaining Kyrie rules out keeping Tatum/Brown. Their maxes are 25% of the cap and the team control means they'll likely be extended.

Cost cutting will likely happen elsewhere or on the third contract.

[RJ87]

Why do people listen to Cowherd or Felger and Mazz? Serious question.

[Fafnir]

Why do people listen to Cowherd or Felger and Mazz? Serious question.

They are very good at their jobs of being provocative and loud. Easy to get sucked in, especially when you like sports.

Besides Stein, Lowe, and other top notch NBA reporters are also talking about it, its a real story.

[RJ87]

Why do people listen to Cowherd or Felger and Mazz? Serious question.

They are very good at their jobs of being provocative and loud. Easy to get sucked in, especially when you like sports.

Besides Stein, Lowe, and other top notch NBA reporters are also talking about it, its a real story.

I love sports and yet I can't stand any of those guys. It's just screaming for the sake of being heard.

I think there's a different tone in the type of coverage from Stein, Lowe, and co than what those other guys are saying. Stein just wrote today, "There have been no firm indications from Irving or his camp that the All-Star guard is eyeing an exit from Boston next summer or that he’s angling to go to New York." Cowherd goes full alarmist, while Lowe says Boston's confident we can keep Kyrie. Of course only one of those gets buzz around these parts.

[CelticSooner]

Why do people listen to Cowherd or Felger and Mazz? Serious question.

They are very good at their jobs of being provocative and loud. Easy to get sucked in, especially when you like sports.

Besides Stein, Lowe, and other top notch NBA reporters are also talking about it, its a real story.

Podcasts > debate shows

[Fafnir]

I think there's a different tone in the type of coverage from Stein, Lowe, and co than what those other guys are saying. Stein just wrote today, "There have been no firm indications from Irving or his camp that the All-Star guard is eyeing an exit from Boston next summer or that he’s angling to go to New York." Cowherd goes full alarmist, while Lowe says Boston's confident we can keep Kyrie. Of course only one of those gets buzz around these parts.

There definitely is. I think the noise is mostly coming from NY media angling for a story and Jimmy Butler connected people as he's trying to plot a way away from Wiggins/Towns.

[Fafnir]

Why do people listen to Cowherd or Felger and Mazz? Serious question.

They are very good at their jobs of being provocative and loud. Easy to get sucked in, especially when you like sports.

Besides Stein, Lowe, and other top notch NBA reporters are also talking about it, its a real story.

Podcasts > debate shows

I had to giggle at this given I listen to two debates show in podcast form. Well I wouldn't call high noon a "debate show" like First Take, but it like PTI is close enough.

[CelticSooner]

Why do people listen to Cowherd or Felger and Mazz? Serious question.

They are very good at their jobs of being provocative and loud. Easy to get sucked in, especially when you like sports.

Besides Stein, Lowe, and other top notch NBA reporters are also talking about it, its a real story.

Podcasts > debate shows

I had to giggle at this given I listen to two debates show in podcast form. Well I wouldn't call high noon a "debate show" like First Take, but it like PTI is close enough.

I watch PTI and Around the Horn. That's about as far as I can it take when it comes to debate shows anymore. I actually respect a lot of the writers on those shows.

[td450]

Point guards are the easiest players you can get to run your offense, but they aren't important if you have one or more wings that can do the same thing.

It may be better to commit to the positionless trend and see Kyrie as a point of defensive weakness that cannot be fixed.  I'm also pretty sure he won't like making room for Tatum and Brown to reach their potential.  Rozier or Smart aren't the answer either. Rozier just doesn't quite play big enough defensively and Smart can't shoot.

Longer term, we could instead start another defensive oriented wing that is quick enough to cover guards and who can consistently hit 3's. If we can get a quality resource for Kyrie, maybe we should let him go. I'm no cap expert, but it looks to me like we could clear room for a major free agent if we don't sign him and are willing to move Smart.

Hayward can run the offense and that Tatum and Brown will be able to as well as they evolve. We are in an amazing position where we have three big talented wings who all shoot very well, who all play rugged, flexible defense, and who all can attack the rim. On top of that, we have the most versatile big in the league to play with them. Let's go big and positionless and see if anyone can hang with us. Even GS has a couple of holes when they go small.

Kyrie doesn't give us that.

[ETNCeltics]

IMO, only way Kyrie is leaving is if he just hates Boston.

NY is a dumpster fire, it's only been a few months since their one and only good player was talking about leaving town, and they just hired a coach who got fired in Memphis. They're going to be awful this year to boot.

Kyrie's a weird guy and maybe he'll just want out of Boston, but it's hard to imagine given the current situation with the East and in NY and Boston. This appears to mostly be rumors stirred by talk show hosts hoping to gin up controversy in 2 big northeastern fanbases.

[Who]

With or without Kyrie, this team is setup to win Championships.

It is ridiculous how loaded this team is. Ainge has done an incredible job.

[ETNCeltics]

Point guards are the easiest players you can get to run your offense, but they aren't important if you have one or more wings that can do the same thing.

It may be better to commit to the positionless trend and see Kyrie as a point of defensive weakness that cannot be fixed.  I'm also pretty sure he won't like making room for Tatum and Brown to reach their potential.  Rozier or Smart aren't the answer either. Rozier just doesn't quite play big enough defensively and Smart can't shoot.

Longer term, we could instead start another defensive oriented wing that is quick enough to cover guards and who can consistently hit 3's. If we can get a quality resource for Kyrie, maybe we should let him go. I'm no cap expert, but it looks to me like we could clear room for a major free agent if we don't sign him and are willing to move Smart.

Hayward can run the offense and that Tatum and Brown will be able to as well as they evolve. We are in an amazing position where we have three big talented wings who all shoot very well, who all play rugged, flexible defense, and who all can attack the rim. On top of that, we have the most versatile big in the league to play with them. Let's go big and positionless and see if anyone can hang with us. Even GS has a couple of holes when they go small.

Kyrie doesn't give us that.

Mostly nonsense. Quick teams would eat up a positionless team without a true PG.

Kyrie is one of the 10 best players in the league. Tatum might become that, but he isn't right now.

Hayward can't run the offense, none of them can other than Smart, none of them can beat pressure like Kyrie, and he's far and away the best on the roster at getting his own shot. Because we have a # of players and picks, we can regroup and quickly rebuild if Kyrie leaves, but you'd have to be astoundingly naive to not think it's a harsh blow.