Cleveland Sports Forum

Blame Kyrie? It's not that simple, Boston
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Jun 28, 2019
Jackie MacMullan
ESPN Senior Writer

AS THE PUBLIC flogging commences, and the piling on ensues, Kyrie Irving assumes a yoga pose in Japan with the accompanying cryptic message: "Freedom from greed ensures a peaceful life."

It's too simplistic to put all the blame of Boston's lost 2018-19 season at the feet of this basketball supernova, who declared as recently as early May, "I'm an actual genius when it comes to the game."

Don't snicker too loudly -- he's not entirely wrong. The talent is unmistakable, the work ethic indisputable and the courage to take a shot in the biggest moment is what drew the Celtics to him in the first place. Yet Kyrie's awkward attempts at providing forceful leadership proved to be flawed, and ultimately destructive. His journey began as an earnest attempt to fulfill his dream of leading his own team to the pinnacle, but he failed spectacularly, with help from a disjointed collection of talented individuals who simply could not figure out how to collaborate in unison.

This debacle was no solo act.

If people actually believe Boston's implosion was all Kyrie Irving's fault, they weren't paying attention.

"It wasn't just him," says former Celtic Cedric Maxwell, the team's radio analyst. "This group was the most dysfunctional team I've seen since 1983, when we had four Hall of Famers on our roster and got swept by the Milwaukee Bucks. These guys never found a way to be on the same page."


Kyrie Irving led the Boston Celtics with 245 free throw attempts last season, but only one team attempted fewer free throws than Boston.



In fact, it didn't take long for Boston's coaching staff to grow concerned about the team's vibe. They peeked in on the preseason pickup games and discovered young players who experienced exhilarating results the previous season by making the extra pass, but were now jacking up shots and running isolation plays. Ironically, it was Irving who implored his teammates to share the ball in the infancy of the season. And yet, by season's end, it was Kyrie who had hijacked the offense.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens says he knew from the beginning it would be a challenging season for Boston.

"The bottom line," Stevens told ESPN, "is that we had seven perimeter guys who were all very good players, and all of them brought something different and unique to the table. If you ask any one of them, I'm sure they'll tell you it was hard to find all that they wanted this season.

"I don't lose any sleep over that. They were all extremely competitive, well-intentioned guys. The pieces just didn't fit."

THE PIECES INCLUDED Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier thirsting for more shots and a bigger role; Gordon Hayward struggling to recover both mentally and physically from a catastrophic injury; and Al Horford, the model of decorum and professionalism, choosing not to challenge Irving when the point guard's emotions disrupted the team.

After a November loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, the team's fourth in five games, Irving opined that the team needed a 14- or 15-year veteran on the roster to add levity to their group. By January, he was wondering aloud if his younger teammates understood what it took to play at a championship level. Brown pushed back, saying, "It's not the young guys', old guys' fault. It's everybody."

On Jan. 9, the Celtics blitzed the Indiana Pacers in Boston, then flew out that night to Miami, arriving at the team hotel after 2 a.m. on Thursday. Boston was set to play the Miami Heat that night, but, team sources said, that didn't stop some of the young players from heading to South Beach, where the clubs stay open well past 5 a.m. It's not uncommon for NBA players to go out when they're on the road, but Irving was irked teammates decided to do it in the middle of back-to-back games.

The Celtics ended up submitting a lackluster effort in a 115-99 drubbing at the hands of the Heat.

During a timeout in that game, a testy exchange between Brown and veteran Marcus Morris, who was angered that Brown didn't hustle back on the defensive end, was captured on video. Morris admonished Brown to "play harder" and shoved him before Marcus Smart quickly intervened.

Reporters clamored to ask Irving about it after the game, but he had disappeared. After nearly 30 minutes, he was found shooting baskets on Miami's practice court, hoping some of his teammates who had played so poorly might join him.

None of them did.

By the time Irving returned to answer media questions, most of his teammates were gone. Asked to explain why he felt compelled to engage in the postgame session, Irving said,"I just wanted to feel good going into the next game. We're staying over in Miami, so I'd rather be in here than be out in Miami right now."

Two nights later, the Celtics lost by two points to the Orlando Magic. As Stevens drew up the final play in the huddle, an animated Irving objected to where he was slated to receive the ball. Irving was a primary option on the play, but when Hayward saw Tatum open in the corner, he threw him the ball instead. Tatum missed. Irving's incredulous reaction, including jawing at Hayward and raising his arms in disbelief, quickly went viral.


Kyrie on frustrations vs. Magic: 'I just want to win so bad'Kyrie Irving says the Celtics need to have a "championship or nothing" mindset after appearing frustrated at the end of Boston's loss to the Magic.
Kyrie's postgame comments included yet another reference to his team's lack of experience. He would later apologize for his reaction to the final play, but the damage was done, both in his locker room and in the public court of opinion.

Stevens had regular discussions with Irving throughout the season, and Kyrie once praised Stevens as "a great basketball mind." By season's end, Irving had publicly questioned his coach's tactics and management of the roster. "Kyrie really put Brad through the ringer," one Celtics staffer noted. Stevens repeatedly blamed himself for his team's mounting losses, vowing to do better, while his coaches became increasingly concerned about the toll it was exacting on their head coach.

"He really beat himself up for how things went," says Micah Shrewsberry, who left the Celtics to become Purdue's associate head coach. "I know right now Brad's watching every game 10 times over trying to figure out what he can do better."


ONE OF STEVENS' biggest challenges proved to be reacclimating Hayward back into the mix. His mental and physical recovery was initially painstakingly slow, and though his teammates were sympathetic to his plight, they also chafed at the minutes he was given. By late November, Stevens had moved Hayward to the bench, but the narrative lingered that he was favoring his former Butler star.

"I could see how people could perceive favoritism, but it just wasn't there," Shrewsberry says. "It was never, 'Hey, we need to get Gordon X amount of shots' or 'we need to get Gordon X amount of points.' It was always how Brad could put us in the best position to win, and sometimes that included a hard decision to put Gordon on the bench."

Hayward averaged just 29 minutes and 7.8 shots a game in the postseason, leaving him discouraged about his reduced role. The statistics say the Celtics were 4.9 points per 100 possessions better than their opponents when Hayward was out there, according to NBA.com, and when he was paired with Horford and Irving (1,022 possessions), the team posted a net rating of plus-12.1, which ranked in the 97th percentile of all NBA three-man lineup combinations, per Cleaning the Glass. In a postseason meeting with Hayward, Stevens assured him that he values his skill set, including his superb passing.

"If you ask the guys, they tell you they liked playing with Gordon," Stevens says. "He's a really good player who makes people better. People can have whatever perceptions they want to have. I'm glad he's here. It's not been an easy two years for him."

If Hayward can return to All-Star form, it will go a long way toward easing the pain of losing both Irving and Horford. The Celtics also need more from Tatum, who had an electric rookie season in 2017-18, culminating with a dunk over his childhood idol LeBron James in the Eastern Conference finals.

But Tatum did not build on that success, appearing, at times, curiously passive in 2018-19 and exhibiting occasional defensive indifference.

"He's a really talented player," Maxwell says, "but he needs to take some ownership of what happened this season. They all do."


In the meantime, Irving is probably embarking on a new start in Brooklyn, and, following the blueprint of LeBron James, has hired his longtime friend Alex Jones to help manage his career.

Could the Celtics have salvaged their relationship with their point guard? They afforded him several perks of stardom, including assigning a security guard to his table during team charity functions and allowing him to occasionally fly separately from the team when he had outside commitments. Much like the Cleveland Cavaliers, who still aren't clear on all the reasons why Irving soured on them, the Celtics remain puzzled about exactly how their prized player became so disenchanted so quickly.

At the completion of the regular season, the team set up 100 balls in a room for their charitable partners. Everyone signed the balls except Irving. When pressed to do it, say team sources, he was neither aggressive nor confrontational. He merely said, "No, I'm not interested in that."


He's no longer interested in Boston either. He earned the right to explore free agency, yet even those close to him wonder what he's searching for. A championship? He had that in Cleveland. League accolades? He was second-team All-NBA this season in Boston. Money? His biggest payday would have come had he stayed put. He leaves more than $49 million on the table once he departs, an accomplished enigma who often defies explanation.

"I want Kyrie to find happiness," Stevens says. "If he does move on, I wish him nothing but good health and success. I saw a lot of great qualities in him."

Those qualities have been muted by the scorn of a jilted fan base that feels duped and betrayed by its point guard and his soon-to-be former teammates, who seemingly were assembled for a memorable title run.

"I really don't think it's anyone's fault," Stevens says. "If you blame anyone, it's me. I'm the guy who couldn't fit the pieces."

TFIR, watch out for Windler on the Cavs this year.

John Beilein gushes about Dylan Windler following Cleveland Cavaliers’ summer league debut: ‘He’s going to make everybody better’
Updated 12:52 AM; Today 12:36 AM

By Chris Fedor, cleveland.com

SALT LAKE CITY -- After Dylan Windler’s first NBA action, Cleveland Cavaliers head John Beilein -- one of many who pushed for the youngster with the No. 26 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft -- wasn’t too focused on numbers.

Those were great, by the way. Windler scored 19 points on 8-of-14 from the field and 3-of-8 from 3-point range to go with six rebounds, three assists and two steals in Cleveland’s 97-89 loss to San Antonio in the Salt Lake City Summer League opener. He committed just one turnover in 30 minutes, getting caught trying to lob the ball over a defender’s high hands when coming around a pick. Immediately, Beilein instructed Windler to use a bounce pass or wrap-around in that situation. Consider that a lesson, one of the few blemishes on an otherwise sparkling night for the second pick of Cleveland’s three-pronged draft class.


But the most important number on Monday (albeit a summer league game against a handful of players that won’t be in the NBA) wasn’t 19, signifying his point total. It wasn’t three, as in the number of long-range shots he drained. It was 14. Windler’s plus-minus. The best on either team.

This isn’t the time to get carried away with stats. It’s way too early for that. There are countless cases of guys starring in summer league and then flopping in the NBA. But that plus-minus number matches the other analytics, which pointed Cleveland in Windler’s direction nearly two weeks ago.

“Analytics absolutely loved him,” one member of the organization said Monday.

Maybe it translates, maybe it doesn’t. But it highlights his ability to impact the game in a variety of ways, which is what Windler has always done. When his star teammates went away for a weekend during AAU, Windler was given a unique opportunity and capitalized, leading his team on a deep run and picking up scholarship offers. He also lifted Belmont to new heights, winning an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in school history. In his senior year, Windler ranked top 10 among all college players in effective field goal percentage. His Offensive Box Plus-Minus and Player Efficiency Rating (PER) both ranked in the top 15.


On Monday night, Windler, again, did the little things. That’s what stood out to Beilein, Lindsay Gottlieb, Jay Shunnar -- who is essentially Beilein’s special assistant, plucked from Michigan to be a trusted and valuable resource with the Cavaliers -- and other coaches on staff.

“I have a strong belief that you don’t just amass talent when you are putting a team together, you build a team,” Beilein said of Windler following the game. “He’s one of those components you need to have to make our other guys better. He’s going to make everybody better with the Cavaliers, just because the game is simple. He can really shoot the ball and he’s a very efficient player.”

Shortly after the draft, one member of the coaching staff perked up when discussing Windler’s shooting prowess. The Cavs felt they added a marksman who will space the floor, open driving lanes for Cleveland’s new and potentially-electrifying backcourt tandem Collin Sexton and Darius Garland and maybe even keep teams from double-teaming All-Star power forward Kevin Love. Instead of Sexton’s passes turning into pump-fake drives, Windler will be there to catch and fire, maybe boosting Sexton’s assist total and converting some of those opportunities that too often came up empty -- a point of frustration among members of the organization.


That potential impact is hard to quantify. So, too, is the rookie’s deft movement without the ball. Against San Antonio, Windler read the defense and darted quickly a few different times, cutting backdoor for easy hoops. That’s a must in Beilein’s system that demands read-and-react skills. It shows why Windler became an A student in Belmont head coach Rick Byrd’s offensive master class and why he has been able to pick up Beilein’s so rapidly.

Windler is also an underrated athlete, finishing in the 80th percentile at the combine in a few different categories designed to measure that -- lane agility, shuttle run and max vertical.

Those traits came into a play a couple times, driving past defenders, finishing in transition or bouncing off the hardwood to secure a rebound in traffic.

In the summer league opener, Beilein also experimented, putting the ball in Windler’s hands and asking him to create.

“He was really good. I’m trying to figure out how to use him best,” Beilein said. “Just try to dial him up as best we can. They switched a lot of ball screens, but I just like the way he moves, the way he instinctively has a really good feel for the game and seems to make the game easier.”

Even though there are areas Windler wants to clean up prior to Tuesday’s game against Utah, he said there wasn’t a specific welcome-to-the-league moment. That will come in time. He knows it’s too early for any kind of over-analyzation or declaration. Perspective is required, especially in July. But one of the knocks against last year’s promising rookie Sexton was his inability to make teammates better. It wasn’t all his fault. The circumstances played a massive role. The deeper metrics pointed to it being fair criticism, even if the numbers didn’t tell the entire story.


On Monday night, those same “impact-the-game" numbers labeled Windler as the most important player. One summer game into what the Cavaliers hope is a long and bright career, Windler already had his coaches gushing.

“He’s one of those guys who will make everybody better. Giving space or by making the simple, easy pass to the next open man,” Beilein said. “He’s not taking the extra dribble. He’s delivering the ball on time and on target so I was just really impressed by that in the training camp so far and then we really saw it today.”

Kawhi Leonard agreed on a four-year, $142 million max contract with the Clippers.

The Clippers pull off one of the craziest nights in NBA history, landing Kawhi Leonard and trading for Paul George within minutes.

According to report, Kawhi met with PG earlier in the week, and said to the Clippers that it would be unlikely he would sign unless the Clips could land George. Now, the Clippers have two of the best two-way players along with Patrick Beverley at point guard. They're instantly a contender for an NBA title.

Ok, the NFL can top this offseason??

All of a sudden, LeBron appears to be be left out in the cold.

Well, having Anthony Davis on his team is far from being left out in the cold. AD is a top 3 player when healthy.

An article by the ultimate NBA expert WOJ on how this went down:

Sources: Fear of Lakers dynasty drove Clips' deal

Adrian Wojnarowski
NBA

As fears mounted that the Los Angeles Lakers had pushed to the cusp of creating an unprecedented Big Three, the LA Clippers made a blockbuster trade for Oklahoma City's Paul George -- and cleared the path for free-agent Kawhi Leonard to sign a four-year, $141 million contract with the Clippers, league sources told ESPN.

The Clippers became the last line of defense for the balance of power in the NBA -- never mind the franchise's own future. The Clippers had come to believe that, without a deal for George, Leonard was prepared to sign with the Lakers and create a Staples Center partnership with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, sources said.

Had Leonard joined the Lakers, they would have been overwhelming title favorites, and it perhaps would have thrust the Clippers back into the franchise's dark ages. Now the Clippers are in Western Conference contention, shoulder-to-shoulder with the Lakers -- as well as the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz


George and Leonard wanted to play together, and George and his agent, CAA's Aaron Mintz, approached Thunder general manager Sam Presti in recent days and requested a trade, league sources said. Leonard's message to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was essentially this: Get George, and you'll get me.

Before free agency started, the Clippers knew they needed a second star to lure Leonard but had no idea whom he wanted. The Clippers inquired on deals for Washington's Bradley Beal and New Orleans' Jrue Holiday, but those guards weren't available in trades. Eventually, Leonard made his intentions known to the Clippers: Paul George.

To Leonard, the cost was immaterial. He wanted to walk into a championship contender and believed George represented the co-star he needed to combat James and Davis, sources said. Leonard wanted to play for Doc Rivers, a coach with whom he could feel a kinship he felt was similar to his relationship with Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri, sources said.

In the end, Presti made the best of an impossible situation: Despite two years left on George's deal, he didn't want a trade demand hanging over his franchise. Still, he'd never have more leverage to trade George than he did late Friday night, when there were no limits to the Clippers' desperation to land George and Leonard in one dramatic swoop.

In a wild night of negotiations, Presti leveraged the Clippers and Raptors off each other, preying on the uncertainties of what the other might be willing to give Oklahoma City for the chance to secure Leonard and George -- and perhaps the inside track on a championship.

Clippers leadership -- Ballmer, Frank and general manager Michael Winger -- harbored fears that Presti was close to striking a deal with Toronto that would have delivered George to the NBA champions, sources said.

Had Presti been able to strike a deal for George with the Raptors -- and Leonard was willing to stay -- George was believed to be willing to join the Raptors too, sources said. Presti had been willing to pursue a package of Russell Westbrook and George to the Raptors, but no talks ever gained traction, sources said. Ujiri and Raptors GM Bobby Webster had no ability, nor inclination, to counter the Clippers' offer with a multitude of first-round picks into the middle of next decade, league sources said.

The Raptors could have been looking at adding Westbrook, with four years and $171 million left on his deal, and George to a team that Leonard still might have parted ways with. Toronto extended itself as far as it could for Leonard, but Ujiri could never be sure that the Thunder even wanted to do a deal with them -- and perhaps were just using the Raptors to squeeze more out of the Clippers.

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How the Lakers can build their roster after missing on KawhiBobby Marks analyzes the Lakers' addition of Danny Green after losing out on Kawhi Leonard and looks at other free agents they could add to their roster.
Ujiri had delivered Leonard everything he wanted in a franchise: leadership, trust, championship talent and a medical partnership that preserved and prepared his body. What Ujiri couldn't give Leonard was out of his control: geography, weather and a chance to return to his Southern California roots.

In the end, the Clippers' reservoir of draft picks and young players -- cultivated in the Blake Griffin trade and built on in the flipping of Tobias Harris to Philadelphia -- gave the Thunder a return that the Raptors couldn't match in trade talks, league sources said.

Toronto's pressure was unmistakable: Allow George to get traded to the Clippers and risk Leonard walking into Staples Center arm-and-arm with George to take on James and Davis. This was a high-stakes game playing out across the league Friday night, with the future balance of power hanging.

From the time that Leonard demanded his trade in San Antonio in 2018, the Clippers believed that they had to get him. Here was a top-five player with Southern California roots whose personality maybe didn't fit with the bright lights and scrutiny that comes with life as a Laker. The Clippers withstood several significant obstacles on the way to a free-agent commitment, including Leonard's title with the Raptors and the Lakers' acquisition of Davis.

When it was time to make a decision on sacrificing the franchise's long-term future with a historic haul of draft picks, Ballmer felt he had no choice. Leonard wanted George, and the Clippers paid an unprecedented price in assets. In the minds of the Clippers' decision makers, they were delivering a massive return of assets to Oklahoma City for George and Leonard. Without George, they were losing Leonard to the Lakers, sources said.

Now Staples Center is the NBA's epicenter, and the Clippers can walk Leonard and George into downtown Los Angeles to stand shoulder to shoulder with James and Davis. The wildest story on the wildest night of free agency.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Russell Westbrook and his agent are engaged with Thunder GM Sam Presti about the next steps of Westbrook's career, including the possibility of a trade before the start of next season.

Once word broke last night that Paul George had requested a trade, and OKC shipped him to the Clippers, it seemed as if Russ requesting a trade would be the next shoe to drop.

Well, less than 12 hours later, Woj reports: "The two sides have 11 years of history together and both understand that the time has likely come to explore trade possibilities for Westbrook." The issue with trading Westbrook is that he has four years and $170 million left on his contract. Stay tuned.

Rajon Rondo has agreed to a two-year contract to remain with the Lakers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Tania Ganguli of the LA Times reports that the deal is for the minimum. Rondo played 46 games for the Lakers last season, starting 29 of them. He averaged 9.2 points, 8.0 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 29.8 minutes per game.

Once Kawhi Leonard chose the Clippers, Rondo's odds of returning to the Lakers only went up. He spent one season with Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins in New Orleans, which gives him some familiarity with most of the roster. Quinn Cook was also added to the point guard position with the Lakers, but Rondo will still have a good opportunity to produce.

DeMarcus Cousins has agreed to a one-year deal with the Lakers.

Once free agent money starting drying up, Cousins likely realized he wasn't getting the major payday he was hoping for entering the offseason. While he posted solid numbers in Golden State this past season, he clearly looked limited physically.

As a result, he'll have to settle for yet another one-year deal at a fraction of what Boogie thought he'd earn two years ago, when he was averaging more than 25 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two 3-pointers per game for the Pelicans. Fantasy wise, he's in a good situation in LA, as Javale McGee is his only real competition for minutes.

Lol, Lebron will definitely not be on a team without talent!

And remember, Kyle Kuzma is an up and coming star who the Lakers kept instead of dealing to the Pelicans.

Fantasy wise, he's in a good situation in LA, as Javale McGee is his only real competition for minutes.

What position does AD play ?

According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Heat officials made it clear that they are "absolutely" interested in Russell Westbrook.

rusty2 wrote:Fantasy wise, he's in a good situation in LA, as Javale McGee is his only real competition for minutes.

What position does AD play ?

Interestingly Rondo, AD and Boogie Cousins all played together before...in New Orleans!

When you sign Boogie, AD goes to power forward and Lebron to SF.

That said, you would think there would be lots of times AD goes to center, Lebron to power forward and Kuzma to SF.

Who knows how Boogie's body will hold up but you would think a full offseason will have him much better off.

I also think it's interesting to see Rondo back to the Lakers. Such a ball dominant point guard - and you know they ran this by Lebron first.

They played together last season so Lebron must like him. He does take a lot of ballhandling baggage off Lebron's hands.

Between the Clippers and Lakers, the Staples Center is going to be a fun place to be this winter. (Aside from the weather of course)