After more than a month of waiting for something to go down, the Kyrie Irving trade has finally happened. While there were a few roadblocks that popped up along the way, Irving is now a member of a Boston Celtics, while the Cleveland Cavaliers got pieces back that could potentially help them now (Jae Crowder, Isaiah Thomas if he’s healthy) and in the future (Ante Zizic, Brooklyn’s first round pick in the 2018 NBA Draft).
Much has been made about everything that led up to this deal occurring, but now that it’s official, basketball fans can look to the immediate and distant futures for all sides involved. This is especially true for Irving, who will get the chance to consistently be the No. 1 option with the Celtics, something that was never going to be the case in Cleveland as long as he shared the floor with LeBron James.
In fact, one executive in the Cavaliers’ organization told Howard Beck of Bleacher Report that they think LeBron might have kept Irving from reaching his potential, and now that he’s in Boston, we’re going to see just how good Irving can be.
“He’s evolved more the last three years than anyone else on our team,” says one Cavs official, who declared himself “really bullish” on Irving’s future in Boston. “He’s just scratching the surface of who he can be, and he’s not going to find out playing with [James].”
This isn’t a damning indictment of LeBron or anything, it’s just the nature of things. It’s hard to imagine that Irving could grow when he will so frequently have to defer to a player who is objectively better than him, so now that he’s going to be the center of attention in Boston, he’ll get the chance to work towards becoming a top-10 player in a big way.
But for now, some executives told Beck that they’re not especially high on Irving, as they aren’t sure that he can be the player who brings Boston to the promised land.
“I have my doubts,” says the longtime scout, a view echoed by numerous coaches, executives and scouts around the league.
“I think it’s fairly clear he’s not,” says one team’s analytics director, pointing to the surprisingly soft trade market for Irving. “The league as a whole agrees he’s not.”
Ultimately what matters is whether the Celtics brass thinks Irving is this type of player, and seeing as how they parted with Thomas and what could end up being the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft, they must view Irving in this light. Apparently, Irving seems like he’s up for the challenge, as one person who knows him told Beck that he’s “ready for this challenge” and that they believe Irving is “going to be the best version of himself that we’ve seen.”
(Via Bleacher Report)
