Kyrie
- Thread starter CatcherForLife6
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This won't be a popular opinion on this board but Irving is way down my list of favorite Devils.
He was an amazing individual player at Duke and has continued that in the NBA. I can't think of any Devil who has had a better NBA career.
That being said...without LeBron...Kyrie has a career similar to Carmelo IMO. Great stats but no matter how talented...they don't make teammates better and ultimately need a pass first...stud defender to win.
Based on that...San Antonio is the best location for him to win...but I expect if he moves he will spend the rest of his career scoring 30 ppg on a 5-8 seed in the playoffs.
He was an amazing individual player at Duke and has continued that in the NBA. I can't think of any Devil who has had a better NBA career.
That being said...without LeBron...Kyrie has a career similar to Carmelo IMO. Great stats but no matter how talented...they don't make teammates better and ultimately need a pass first...stud defender to win.
Based on that...San Antonio is the best location for him to win...but I expect if he moves he will spend the rest of his career scoring 30 ppg on a 5-8 seed in the playoffs.
No devil has had a better nba career than Irving? Really?
Grant hill says hello
Sheesh!!!
Apparent KI is refusing to speak to any organization members
At least KD didn't cold shoulder the thunder, man.
At least KD didn't cold shoulder the thunder, man.
KD was also a free agent. He also didn't say anything to Russ. Kyrie isn't a free agent and doesn't have to say anything to anyone he just has to show up at training camp. Let's not forget it was the cavs that explored shopping him for chris Paul even after he hit the biggest shot in franchise history to help them win their only title.Apparent KI is refusing to speak to any organization members
At least KD didn't cold shoulder the thunder, man.
Your right you don't need to speak to the organization that pays you millions and drafted you number 1 overall.
Timo you realize you're fair game now on everything you type my friend....Oh, those commas, periods, cap letters, etc best be perfect! Lol JK, OFC
Aww that's nice to know you're still thinking about me.
To be fair. What has James [3-5] accomplished without the likes of Wade, Bosh, Allen, Irving, or Love.
In Irving's defense he never invited James to Cleveland. I respect his desire to challenge instead of remaining a somewhat little brother role. It reminds me a bit of Magic joining the Lakers/Kareem. But we also see the same in Soccer with Neymar set to leave Barcelona to a recent rival. It is good for sports when players separate for competitive reasons, not just financial
Irving appears to be an intelligent guy that has out grown Cleveland. He must have caught wind of James planning to leave next off-season. There is also rumors of James pushing to trade for Paul after the Championship.
All I know about James is look at Cleveland's record before he entered the league. Then look at their record with him, then when he left, then came back. Don't know what's going on between him and Irving but maybe James is tired of carrying a franchise and sees that the roster he has has no chance beating the Warriors.
It seems to me that Kyrie is somewhat being selfish by a lot of people. It's pretty obvious that James is on his way out at Cleveland and certainly they will not be the team that will contend without him. Kyrie knows after James is gone no more titles so why not get out and get established to a up and coming young team. I've already said this but look at the Celtics in 2 to 3 years even without Kyrie. Put him in with their young stars, a young coach who is already one of the NBA's best. There's other teams he could win another championship with but the Celtics are getting ready. OFC
Kyrie was 2nd in FGA last year, that's right 2nd in the entire league(per Deadspin) and played in his 3rd straight Finals. That isn't good enough? KI goes to San Antonio and that changes immediately b/c Pop ain't giving him free reign. Play for the Knicks and enjoy 45 losses per season.
Must say KI does have the best shoes. Great designs and hold up better than KD's & Lebron's. My kids love them!
Must say KI does have the best shoes. Great designs and hold up better than KD's & Lebron's. My kids love them!
I love the Cavs. When the news of Lebron coming back was announced, I'll never forget exactly where I was and what I was doing. To make it even better, he would be joining Kyrie Irving.
3 years later, the Cavs have exhausted every asset they have, it's really impossible for them to get better unless they roll the dice with a big time trade. I've followed this situation closely, and I still believe there is better than a 50% chance Kyrie is on the Cavs game 1. The. Whole situation could run all the way up to the trade deadline.
Everything fell apart when the Cavs failed to land Paul George. Was a 3 team trade with Denver involved, Kevin Love would be going to Denver and Denver's young guys going to Indiana, everything fell thru because Indiana wanted the Cavs 2019 pick UNPROTECTED, and the Cavs wouldn't budge because if they lose Lebron, they will definitely be picking early.
No matter what happens, winning the title in 2016 was worth it all. Personally...I'd like to see Kyrie in Minnesota with those young studs.
3 years later, the Cavs have exhausted every asset they have, it's really impossible for them to get better unless they roll the dice with a big time trade. I've followed this situation closely, and I still believe there is better than a 50% chance Kyrie is on the Cavs game 1. The. Whole situation could run all the way up to the trade deadline.
Everything fell apart when the Cavs failed to land Paul George. Was a 3 team trade with Denver involved, Kevin Love would be going to Denver and Denver's young guys going to Indiana, everything fell thru because Indiana wanted the Cavs 2019 pick UNPROTECTED, and the Cavs wouldn't budge because if they lose Lebron, they will definitely be picking early.
No matter what happens, winning the title in 2016 was worth it all. Personally...I'd like to see Kyrie in Minnesota with those young studs.
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And what did Jordan do without pippen? (washington years were special right) Every great player that has rings has always had another good to great player with him
Kobe-Shaq and so on
To a posters point above - James is publicly trashing the roster. Is James still better than Irving? Yes but the gap is shrinking and the prospect of a 25 year old Irving eclipsing James eventually or even soon is possible.
There are likely aspects we don't know about (rumors involving a woman) but if James attempted to trade me, I am leaving for my own situation and doing it now. Compared to MJ, LeBron will throw his teammates under the bus again following the next Finals butt kicking.
The team is financially strapped in part to "GM James" if not dictating then at least publicly cheerleading for contracts to Tristan and JR. Especially right after the Title. James leaves messes behind and Irving @ 25 doesn't want to be another guy left holding the bag.
This certainly hurts Irving's immediate reputation but postseason success at his next stop will shape how people judge his career
I love Kyrie - when he is on, there is no better scoring guard in the league.
But, the reality is, Kyrie cannot lead a team to an NBA title because he's a scorer not a passer. He doesn't make his players better. In fact, he should be thankful he's been able to play with LeBron the last few seasons. Only because LeBron is a passer and team oriented player is Kyrie able to fit with another great player.
I really don't get his dislike of playing with LeBron unless he has a head that is bigger than it deserves. With whom else can Kyrie play who will help him win a title?
And now, with the Steph Curry video mocking LeBron and Kyrie in it - egging it on and laughing - that's just not good taste and not a great look for him. It also was pretty classless by Curry. It would have been great for Curry to do that in front of LeBron as a friend - but in that setting? Not a class move. Pretty disappointing.
But, the reality is, Kyrie cannot lead a team to an NBA title because he's a scorer not a passer. He doesn't make his players better. In fact, he should be thankful he's been able to play with LeBron the last few seasons. Only because LeBron is a passer and team oriented player is Kyrie able to fit with another great player.
I really don't get his dislike of playing with LeBron unless he has a head that is bigger than it deserves. With whom else can Kyrie play who will help him win a title?
And now, with the Steph Curry video mocking LeBron and Kyrie in it - egging it on and laughing - that's just not good taste and not a great look for him. It also was pretty classless by Curry. It would have been great for Curry to do that in front of LeBron as a friend - but in that setting? Not a class move. Pretty disappointing.
What I love is people saying Kyrie was nothing but a scorer before Lebron got there which proves Kyrie can't lead a team, just that he could score. He was 21 years old before bron got there- still learning how to play, how to lead and quite frankly that team was absolute garbage. Name one player on those teams outside of Tristan Thompson who also until bron got there wasn't much.
Kyrie is just now entering his prime. He will never be in the same stratosphere as Lebron, ever. But who is? Maybe four players in history.
Bottom line is I get both sides of this and I do think as a player and for his career this probably is not going to help Kyrie moving away from the best player of his generation. Having said that, bron sold him out and is a huge hypocrite here. Preaching and bitching about loyalty and all about the team, but right after they win and Kyrie hits the shot he sells him out in order to try and get chris Paul, who's older and has done literally nothing as far as team success and has been the leader for years.
Kyrie is just now entering his prime. He will never be in the same stratosphere as Lebron, ever. But who is? Maybe four players in history.
Bottom line is I get both sides of this and I do think as a player and for his career this probably is not going to help Kyrie moving away from the best player of his generation. Having said that, bron sold him out and is a huge hypocrite here. Preaching and bitching about loyalty and all about the team, but right after they win and Kyrie hits the shot he sells him out in order to try and get chris Paul, who's older and has done literally nothing as far as team success and has been the leader for years.
Maybe Lebron did sell him out, you might be right. Name one of the greats that won titles that weren't difficult to play with. We also don't truly know what kind of a teammate Kyrie is. I mean we only saw him for what, 11 games? The kid is truly gifted, no doubt, but him being a distributor of the ball lacks to say the least. Is it possible that Lebron knew something about Kyrie as a teammate that we don't?
The video with him and Curry shows the level of immaturity of both of them, and the one thing I wouldn't want to do is give Lebron motivation for this upcoming season
I never said anything about playing with Lebron on the court being difficult- I think it's well known that Bron makes everyone around him better probably more so than any player in history. Every player bron plays with he makes better, that includes Kyrie. That's my point on this being a potentially big mistake for Kyrie from that standpoint.
I don't take anything out of that video and think it's a huge blown out of proportion clip. Who knows if Kyrie then went out and mocked draymond or another warriors guy and curry was laughing. They were having fun at a wedding, who cares. If that's showing immaturity then count me as the most immature there is.
As far as a player and teammate, kyries not a great distributor, six a game isn't blowing anyone away, but again he's 25. He is just getting into his prime. If he wants to lead and learn to win he will improve there. I trust that will happen. As far as teammates, clearly we don't know bc we aren't on the team but I've never heard of or read any report from Duke, the cavs or USA hoops that point to him being a bad teammate.
Call me an "old foagie" but I think Ky still has some growing up to do. Walking the city streets of Cleveland in celebration of the title last year w/no shirt was pretty slack. Steph looked like crap pulling that in the wedding clip, much as throwing his mouthpiece last year.
Just a different culture now though- I tell ya though, Dell Curry has always been the epitome of CLASS, and I love Seth! OFC
I love kyrie but not now, not in 5 years, not in 10 years or EVER will he EVER be better than LeBron...if you believe that then you either can't take off your duke colored glasses or you don't have a clue....don't know which it is though
Misunderstood me (I think)
James is 32 yrs old and Irving 25. I expect LeBron to play at-least another 5 years. I definitely could envision Irving as the superior player in the year 2023.
This is why I brought up Kareem and Magic in my OP. Eventually Magic became the leader and even focal point of the offense. If you disagree and instead Irving will never be able to escape this shadow in Cleveland then for that alone he should leave now.
Sorry but I didn't misunderstand you as I said now or 5 years from now or 10 years from now or ever...kyrie will never I repeat never be superior to LeBron...and I said EVER
But Kyrie can be the best Kyrie and that player is going to be pretty good. Just let KI play the game and be proud that he chose Duke. He didn't choose to get hurt and play just a few games for us. To me he is a Dukie 5 years from now, 10 years from now and fore ever. OFC
As I said I'm earlier post I love kyrie but for anyone to say he will be better than LeBron is just crazy talk.
He will score points wherever he plays but his D is awful and he is a scoring PG so I don't think he is a lead type guy
But I will root for him...I root for most devils once they got the league
Wasn't trying to contradict you. Just pointing out that KI and Lebron are 2 diffrent people talent wise and personality wise. OFC