NBA Rumors 2018: Are the Celtics Going to Trade Kyrie Irving?

Kyrie Irving created his career by being a high-scoring point guard for his team. But after going through a knee surgery last year, Irving hasn’t been exactly the dominating player he once was, Celticsblog reported.

As such, his role within the Boston Celtics seems to have been altered by coach Brad Stevens, with Kyrie Irving now being used as someone who disrupts the opposing team’s defense. Indeed, during the six games that Irving has participated in, the guard did not put up stellar numbers on the board.

In fact, he wasn’t even finishing up under the hoop similar to what fans have seen during his stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers. What he’s currently doing is drawing defenders to him as he attacks the basket. As the defenses collapse, Irving then dishes out the ball to an uncontested Brown or Hayward.

This play works like a charm given that Kyrie Irving has always been seen as someone who creates points within the paint. This also allows the guard to not exert too much physical effort in each play, enabling him to recover quickly from his surgery.

But even though this strategy is brilliant, NBA analyst Chris Broussard said that Kyrie Irving should be traded by the Celtics. The sentiment comes from the fact that Irving’s career is peppered with injuries that render him unable to play during a particular season. What’s more, the Boston Celtics managed to reach last year’s Eastern Conference finals without the guard on the court.

“You [Boston Celtics] made it without him, you’ve got all these max guys. Will they want to give him five years, $190m with the injury history that he’s had? If they decide we can’t have all these max guys or we want to move on from Kyrie [Irving], I don’t know that he’s there the whole year,” Broussard said during a segment in “Undisputed.”

Of course, the analyst’s words shouldn’t be taken as a certainty that the Celtics will indeed trade Kyrie Irving. After all, even though the guard hasn’t recovered completely, his skills with the ball and the threat he represents aren’t anything to scoff at either. And with a roster filled with guys that he can fully rely on, Irving is still a major factor that can propel the Celtics to a championship contention or maybe even help the team snatch the championship itself.