Sep 24, 2018; Canton, MA: Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving during media day at High Output Studios. (Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports)
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
Decision time is coming for Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics.
But first (and finally) clarity will come for both sides as Irving and the Celtics are expected to meet later this week to discuss Irving’s future with the organization, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
The meeting could not come at a better time, in fact, as rumors linking Irving to everywhere-but-Boston have run rampant in recent days, even before Irving officially decided to opt out of his contract with the C’s. These rumors have Irving both ‘preparing to sign with the Nets‘ and ‘eyeing’ the Lakers now that they have Anthony Davis. All while the rumors of linking up with Kevin Durant as members of the Knicks have remained a consistent theme of the year really since the start of the season, even with Durant expected to miss significant time next season due to an Achilles’ injury suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals.
The timing of that meeting seems especially important, too, as the sides are expected to talk before this Thursday’s NBA Draft. If Irving is truthful and alerts the Celtics of his intentions to head elsewhere as a free agent, the Celtics would seemingly have enough time to focus their efforts on zeroing in on a point guard to select with one of their three first-round selections.
No matter the outcome of their meeting, comfort for the Celtics will have to be found within the fact that they can offer Irving more than anybody else can, with a potential five-year max contract only available to Irving in Boston.
The 27-year-old Irving averaged 23.8 points and 6.8 assists per game for the Celtics in 2018-19, and has averaged 24.1 points per game and shot 48.9 percent from the field during his two-year run under Celtics head coach Brad Stevens.