Boston Celtics: 3 goals for Kyrie Irving in 2018-19

3. Manage regular season workload

Despite the fact it feels like he’s been around for a lifetime, Kyrie Irving is incredibly just 26 years old. Beneath the sneaky youthfulness, though, lies a body that has been through significant turmoil on the floor.

The 2011 No. 1 overall pick has completed seven seasons in the league, but he has never been able to come particularly close to suiting up for all 82 regular season contests. He did manage a high mark of 75 games in 2015 as a 22-year-old, but overall he’s missed 19 games a year on average — about a quarter of the season.

For a perennial All-Star and No. 1 option on offense, it’s simply not going to cut it on a team with high hopes of contending for a title. It may not be Irving’s preferred route, but he will need to consider managing his workload through the grind, in a manner not that dissimilar to what the San Antonio Spurs have done over the years with their aging stars.

After the latest flareup in his previously repaired knee, Irving spoke to some of the cautionary measures that need to be taken with a knee that has undergone such trauma over the years.

"“Sometimes [the soreness] may be a little bit extra just from the demand you put on your body and then also the realization of how much basketball you’ve actually been playing for the last few years,” Irving said, via Boston.com."

Those types of comments should ring alarm bells among the Boston staff, with Kyrie playing 52 playoff games over his last three postseason runs with the Cavs. He may be only 26, but he’s an old 26, and both player and coach should consider the occasional night off in back-to-backs, and certainly look for some added rest in blowout contests.

Both Irving and the Celtics will benefit from a slightly fresher point guard come playoff time.