The Boston Celtics’ recent loss to the Brooklyn Nets included audible chants of “Ky-rie’s Lea-ving” and sparked rumors (again) that Kyrie Irving could make his way out of Boston. It also sparked takes that the Celtics should trade him, but that’s not the case.
Hot take media is one of the worst aspects to come out of the ever-changing culture of sports media.
While many in the media possess well-balanced and analytical takes regarding the latest in sports news, the tendency for certain networks and their talking heads to compete for the loudest opinion has taken over.
Here’s a striking and recent example:
Should the Celtics consider trading Kyrie Irving?
— First Take (@FirstTake) January 15, 2019
My initial reaction is that 19,649 of the voters do not watch the Boston Celtics play basketball. My followup reaction is that if 61 percent of Twitter users who follow the NBA truly believe the Celtics should consider trading their best player Kyrie Irving, maybe it’s time for the entire internet to be deleted.
My final thoughts on the matter are that midday television programs revolving around two grown men screaming at one another about the career paths of other grown men should be loaded into cannons and launched into the sun.
After waltzing into the ESPN studios donning a cowboy hat and an unlit cigar, Stephen A. Smith spoke on how Terry Rozier is capable of being a starting point guard in the NBA. I would guess Stephen A. hasn’t watched much of Scary Terry’s play recently, as Rozier is shooting just 35 percent from the field and 26 percent from 3 over the last 10 games, with a plus/minus of -61.
If Rozier were capable of being a starting point guard in the NBA, certainly the numbers would reflect that, right? For example, wouldn’t the numbers of other players look as good with Rozier sharing the floor with them as they do when he’s off the floor?
The stats would not support this line of thinking in any form. When Irving shares the floor with Rozier, his net rating falls from +10.6 to just +4.4, with his offensive rating taking a 13-point dive. The change is even more extreme for Jayson Tatum, whose net rating plummets from +14.8 to -1.9 when asked to share the floor with Rozier. Likewise for Al Horford, Gordon Hayward, and Marcus Smart, who experience 12.0-, 9.4-, and 5.3-point drops in their net rating, respectively.
No one feels the burden of Terry Rozier quite like Marcus Morris and Aron Baynes, whose net ratings drop by 17.3 and 21.3 points, respectively. So no, Stephen A., Scary Terry is not capable of being a starting point guard for the Boston Celtics right now. Fortunately, they have a point guard who is more than capable.
When Kyrie Irving is on the floor, the Celtics are the best version of themselves. The offensive rating with Kyrie on the court is a team-high 112.7 compared to a team-low 101.2 when he leaves the floor. The defensive rating also takes a 1.5-point dive when Kyrie leaves the game, good for a -9.9 difference in net rating. The team’s true shooting percentage similarly falls from 58.1 percent with the former Duke Blue Devil on the floor to a rather atrocious 53.7 percent when he’s off.
Since Nov. 1, Kyrie hasn’t just been the Celtics’ best player, he’s been one of the best players in the league. His stats since the start of November would almost all be career highs, as he’s averaging 24.1 points, 6.6 assists and 4.8 rebounds a night on the back of .500/.414/.872 shooting splits. He also holds a team-high plus/minus of +8.8.
The Celtics’ job should not be to trade Kyrie (duh), it should be to maximize him. I wrote yesterday in the Terry Rozier trade piece that Irving owns the third-highest win shares per 48 minutes among qualified guards while sitting at just 23rd in minutes per game. The guards ahead of him in win shares (James Harden and Stephen Curry), both rank in the top 10 in minutes per game.
Among all qualified players at any position in the NBA, Kyrie is the first Celtic to check in on the minutes per game leaderboard at 48th. Terry Rozier said Tuesday that Boston’s problem is too much talent. To an extent, he’s right. The Celtics’ depth has been their own worst enemy, as the long 10-12 man rotation has kept the top end of the roster from having the minutes necessary to really impact games to their maximum potential.
There are eight teams in the NBA with the same or better win percentage than the Celtics thus far. Only one of those teams has their player averaging the highest minutes per game player outside of the top 40 (the Indiana Pacers’ Victor Oladipo checks in at No. 45). Trading Kyrie Irving at this point in the season would be unfathomable. It’s unthinkable that I even had to write this.
The key for the Celtics moving forward is not to unload their biggest talents, but to ride their best players more than they have thus far. The second half of the season is the time to shorten rotations and prepare for the playoffs, while making the final roster changes to necessitate those changes. While Terry Rozier should absolutely be moved, or permanently duct taped to the bench, Kyrie Irving should have his skill-set maximized.
After all, you don’t trade a guy who publicly says his goal is to re-sign and have his number retired. Especially when that guy is your best player, by far.