Kyrie Irving to the Celtics?

Is It Worth It?

Kyrie Irving is proven to be a elite scoring point guard in the NBA, working alongside Lebron James winning a title in 2016. Now Kyrie Irving wants out, he has been linked to the Timberwolves, Heat, Suns and Knicks.

Should the Boston Celtics jump in the race for Irving? The Boston Celtics are in a unique position, being one of the top teams in the NBA, while having assets to either build toward the future or trade for a superstar, but is Irving "the final piece" to Banner 18?

Pros: The Boston Celtics already have a scoring point guard named Isaiah Thomas, who was the 3rd leading scoring in the NBA last season behind 2017 MVP Russell Westbrook and James Harden. As good as the 5'9 point guard was for Boston offensively, Isaiah Thomas is among the worst defenders in the league having a defensive box plus-minus of -3.3, while Irving has a rating of -2.3. Both point guards are not known for defense, but Irving has the size to not get bodied up in the paint like Thomas does. Then again, Thomas is still posting high PER numbers and producing high win-shares, so maybe people are a little too harsh on Thomas overall. Irving averaged 25.2 points as the 2nd option behind Lebron James, some argue Kyrie Irving could become even better as the main scorer on a team. Plus, Irving is on a contract of 18$ million per year, under team control until 2020, which is huge, because Isaiah Thomas is on track to getting a max contract next season, and some would think he is quite not worth the money for a one way player.

Cons: Why fix something that isn't broken? Thomas is doing just fine for the Celtics. Brad Stevens had to experiment with different lineups around Thomas, and put now-departed Avery Bradley on opposing point guards to hide Thomas defensively, but that's the benefit of having an all-star coach. Thomas is a proven leader of the Celtics and Irving seems to have a history of being unhappy with front offices. Aquiring Irving would require more than just Thomas, as likely young assets like Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum would have to be included, is it worth trading away two young rookies with huge potential? Jaylen Brown showed promise last season as a future good two way player, and Jayson Tatum had Celtics fans going crazy with his offensive potential. Lastly, Celtics signed Hayward to become a number two on offense behind Thomas, Kyrie's offense could not be as much a need to the Celtics now.

Time should tell everything, as the Celtics are reportedly monitoring trades involving Kyrie Irving. It would be quite hard to move on from Thomas, who has become a clear fan favorite, who fast forwarded the rebuild for the Celtics and played an important role getting Horford and Hayward to Boston.