C’s won Irving’s devotion
Star’s decision to re-sign victory for Ainge
It sounds like Kyrie Irving was impressed from the start of his dealings with Danny Ainge and the Celtics.
“What more can you ask for from an organization than taking a chance and getting me out of Cleveland. Really taking a chance regardless of whether I signed back or not,” Irving said Friday, a morning after surprising a gathering of season ticket-holders at the Garden with the announcement he will re-sign with the Celtics next summer, after first opting out of the last year of his current contract.
“They had the same attitude. They just wanted to show me what being a Celtic is about, and hoped I would come around, and I absolutely did. I look forward to the franchise and the players we have here.”
Ainge, the team’s president of basketball operations, did indeed take a flier on being able to re-sign Irving following that leagueshaking trade in the summer of 2017. Irving didn’t have the Celtics in mind when he initially demanded a trade from the Cavaliers that spring.
That’s where rumors of a Jimmy Butler/Irving bromance started. The thenBulls forward was keen on his team engineering a deal for Irving, and though Chicago never answered with an acceptable offer, the auction hall was opened. Ainge, with the finest trove of assets in the league, was then able to step in with the best offer.
But the Celtics never received a signal from Irving at the time that he would be willing to re-sign in Boston. Ainge put faith in the strength of Brad Stevens and the Celtics culture to make the sale to the enigmatic young star.
“Yeah, there’s risk in a move like that,” Ainge said yesterday. “We knew there was a chance he would want to go somewhere else. But he had a fantastic year for us.”
Indeed, by all accounts — including Irving’s — he loved the new environment, and the chance to lead a group of young talent like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier, an understudy good enough to start in most other NBA situations.
Irving had reportedly even indicated to the team a willingness to re-sign as far back as last season, before finally deciding to make his feelings public on Thursday.
Nothing is final until a new contract is signed, but Irving’s announcement throws some water on next summer’s vaunted free agent class. It also blows holes in the tires of the New York Knicks, who had very much been counting on that Irving/Butler rumor, and may once again be window shoppers when the opening bell to the 2019 free agent market sounds.
Should Butler’s new request — a trade to Miami — be honored, it’s unlikely Pat Riley will let him get away. Few expect the unrestricted Klay Thompson to walk away from Golden State. The biggest backcourt name left on the board may very well be the unrestricted Kemba Walker.
But Irving’s decision also changes the nature of Ainge’s plans. According to a report by The Athletic on Friday, Irving has already talked to the most dominant big man in the game, New Orleans’ Anthony Davis, about the merits of a trade to the Celtics.
Ainge still has better assets — a mix of youth and Sacramento’s No. 1-protected pick next summer — than anyone else.
“It gives us more certainty going forward,” Ainge said of Irving’s announcement. “I haven’t looked toward next season, but we have less contingencies now.”
Whistles aplenty
Stevens’ response to the NBA’s new emphasis on clutching and grabbing, especially as defenders try to stay with their assignments off picks, is for his Celtics to crouch lower in their defensive stances.
Cleveland’s Ty Lue wants to get a feel for how these situations will be officiated, saying, “We talked about it and showed film on it. But you have to see how the officials call it. It’s hard to tell. We’ll just have to be able to adjust.”
Asked if this point of emphasis will give the game more freedom of movement, Lue grimaced before saying, “I don’t think so, oh well … There will be a lot of foul calls. You don’t want to get your best players in foul trouble with tickytack fouls. We’ll see how it works out.”
Last Tuesday’s exhibition game against the Celtics was certainly revealing. Sixty combined fouls (30 apiece) were called in a game that took almost 21⁄2 hours to finish.