Boston Celtics: 2017-18 player grades for Kyrie Irving

Weaknesses

One thing that Irving still needs to improve upon is his defense. Despite finishing the year with a defensive rating of 103.4, Irving still lacks the defensive gene. The reason his rating was so good is because of the fact that plays for the NBA’s top-ranked defense.

Irving finished 12th on the team in defensive rating, but seventh among players that saw regular minutes. For a point guard, it’s pretty easy to grab steals. In his case, he only averaged 1.1 steals per game. That tied for 61st in the NBA.

Granted, some of those players didn’t see as many minutes or games as he did, but it’s still a pretty good line that shows how poorly he fares on defense. One thing can be said though: Irving has improved on defense. It’s not anywhere near where you’d like it to be, but his defense did improve.

His improvement shows how well Brad Stevens has implemented a winning defense that can not only cover for Kyrie Irving, but help him get better as well. If there’s something that he lacks, it’s defense. Despite improving a lot this season, he needs to continue to work on that part of his game.