The Celtics have the ability to offer Kyrie Irving the most money next summer when he hits free agency. They can also offer him a familiar situation and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski believes Irving will ultimately look at the situation in Boston and stay put.
“I still would take Boston against the rest of the field,” Wojnarowski said on The Woj Pod (h/t NBC Sports Boston). “I still think in the end there comes a moment of truth when you look around, and you have to make a decision about somewhere else. And when you really start inspecting the questions that are in almost any other circumstance he would go to, you would say: ‘Boy, it’s pretty good here.’ … I still think it is going to be really hard to walk away from this [Boston].”
The Knicks loom as a possible destination for Irving, so would any team with enough cap space to fit him and Jimmy Butler on a pair of max deals, as the duo has been rumored to have interest in teaming up.
Here’s more from Boston:
- Both Gordon Hayward and Irving will enter camp ready to play at full speed, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com relays. “I don’t want to hype it up too much, but I’m saying that if our training camp were starting today that they would be here today going full speed,” GM Danny Ainge said. “It’s not like they need an extra month. I think that they know they have an extra month, so they are sort of pacing themselves. They’re playing as if to build up to that opening day of training camp [Sept. 26].”
- Brad Stevens will face more pressure this season than any of his previous five in Boston, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports writes. The scribe believes the Celtics have the talent and depth to live up to the expectations.
- Hayward’s health will be a key storyline for the Celtics this season, Blakely writes in a separate piece. The team will need his versatility on the court if they are going to compete with top teams like the Rockets and Warriors.
Knicks 2019-2020 starting backcourt will be K. Irving and J. Butler. Book it, Woj!
Lol too funny. Knicks would screw up a free lunch.
I don’t know if Kyrie is gonna stay or go, but in any case I hope that Boston realizes that Tatum is their future & even their present, he is their best player right now, so hopefully they don’t cut his playing time, so he can develop to be the great player I hope he can be, it will be great to watch him become a superstar.
If Kylie wants another ring he should stay in Boston and see how it plays out over the next few years.
They are the best team in the NBA if everyone is healthy.
With 5 time All Stars Al Horford and Kyrie “I don’t need LeBron” Irving, 1 time All Star Gordon Hayward, 1st team NBA rookie Jayson Tatum, and 2nd team NBA rookie team Jaylon Brown as starters, plus top 3 coach Brad Stevens, plus NBA’s best GM in Danny Ainge, plus up to 4 1st round picks next year, maybe Boston and Golden State can get the NBA Finals ratings back to where they should be the next several years. I’m hoping Kyrie gets MVP before LeBron retires.
The tv guys said during the playoffs that Tatum some day could be the best player in the NBA. For now though I don’t think Stevens wants his probable power forward walking the ball up the court, pounding the air out of the basketball, and either driving to the basket or dishing to the corners when the shot clock is about to expire. Boston doesn’t play basketball that way, and they don’t need to. They have a 5 time All Star point guard.
Scottie Pippen says you can’t compare M.J. and LeBron because the style of play is so different. I agree. For those who still want to compare. There is no controversy. M.J. won 6 titles in 6 tries, all in Chicago and Pippen was the only other All Star. LeBron has been playing ping pong to get 3 championships in 9 tries with Kyrie and Love in Cleveland and Bosh and Wade in Miami. M.J. played 15 years, and now LeBron has played 15 years, so now is the time to compare.
Saying MJ has 6 rings in 6 tries is a misrepresentation that ignores all the times he tried to win a ring and didn’t even make the finals.
Dude. M.J. won 6 titles in 6 trips in 15 years with “1” All Star. LeBron has won “3” in 15 years with 2 Al;l Stars. This is not a misrepresentations. Making it to the Finals doesn’t mean squat if you don’t win it. It’s like losing the Super Bowl or World Series, the Stanley Cup, Wimbeldon, etc. SECOND PLACE IS THE FIRST LOSER. Nobody cares. Like Scottie Pippen said you can’t compare the 2 era’s because of different styles of play. M.J. will always be the GOAT. Numbers don’t lie. ^ is bigger than 3, both in 15 years.
That is 6 is bigger than 3. LeBron fans can’t handle this LeBron not being the Greatest. M.J. is. Get over it.
If I’m a Cavs fan, I’d be ashamed to say I was in the Finals the last 2 years. LeBron left Miami because he was embarrased by San Antonio, and left Cleveland because he got smoked by Golden State twice. M.J. never had to leave. He never lost.
I’ll leave this post/thread up for now, but instigating a LeBron vs. Jordan debate on a Celtics-only post seems pretty off-topic and unnecessary. So if I DO remove this thread or similar ones in the future, just a heads-up that that’s why.
If you want you can ban me. I’m tired of cesc talking about how Tatum is better because he doesn’t like Kyrie because he left LeBron. It’s ok for them to torture Kyrie, but I can’t say anything about LeBron. Go back and see how many times they’ve brought up the goat unnecessarily.
I watched The Jump when Scottie said you can’t compare the 2, Jalen Rose too. They should know.
Send Mio’s rant back to Chi-town. Despite the fact that I agree with his arguments.
NBC Sports has an article now saying if the Celtics might need more basketballs this season. Jayson Tatum says they will all have to sacrifice their numbers to win. The reporter says Kyrie won a ring playing next to LeBron and that can take massive sacrifices at times.
I’m very happy to be rooting for the Celtics, Pacers, and Golden State. I’m looking forward to this season especially because I don’t have to watch LeBron play 1 on 5 this year. If the Celts and Pacers play for the eastern conference finals, I’ll be ecstatic.