Teams Receiving Positive Reports On Kyrie Irving

[RealGM Wiretap]

Teams doing their due diligence on Kyrie Irving have received positive reports on his improved commitment to the game.

Irving has had a history of late nights and partying but he hasn't missed practices or shown up for shootarounds nursing an apparent hangover. 

Irving has picked his spots more wisely. 

"Go back through every team he's played on, talked to people involved -- or just study the results -- and it doesn't matter whether it was high school, college, USA development and national teams, and in the NBA -- and you see a pattern of him impacting winning," one Eastern Conference executive said. "There are questions about those first couple years before LeBron came back, but I think there were a lot of issues around there that were out of his control. That said, he didn't always help himself then either."

An old teammate of Irving's told one Western Conference GM: "He's an animal. Forget whatever you hear about him off the court, go get him."

Via Adrian Wojnarowski/ESPN

[Bobalob]

'Are you still beating your wife"

This is such a loaded, unnecessary report.

[kobe_vs_jordan]

So a young millionaire likes to party and have fun? I'm shocked /s
This would been news if the opposite was true.

[dice]

animals play defense. see kevin garnett, MJ, etc.

[Biff]

animals play defense. see kevin garnett, MJ, etc.

Exactly. They also have a positive +/- rating. The only thing Kyrie is good at is scoring, he's pretty terrible at virtually everything else.

[luss54321]

animals play defense. see kevin garnett, MJ, etc.

Exactly. They also have a positive +/- rating. The only thing Kyrie is good at is scoring, he's pretty terrible at virtually everything else.

True, but scoring is BY FAR the most valuable skill a player can have. We're talking about a 25 year old who scored 25 PPG on 47%/40%/90%... That's pretty incredible. Players like Draymond Green who do the small things are only valuable when they're surrounded by great scorers. You win games by scoring more points than the other team. Players who can rebound and play solid defense are a dime a dozen. There might be 5 players in the league who could put up 25 PPG on those shooting numbers

[The_Hater]

animals play defense. see kevin garnett, MJ, etc.

Exactly. They also have a positive +/- rating. The only thing Kyrie is good at is scoring, he's pretty terrible at virtually everything else.

True, but scoring is BY FAR the most valuable skill a player can have. We're talking about a 25 year old who scored 25 PPG on 47%/40%/90%... That's pretty incredible. Players like Draymond Green who do the small things are only valuable when they're surrounded by great scorers. You win games by scoring more points than the other team. Players who can rebound and play solid defense are a dime a dozen. There might be 5 players in the league who could put up 25 PPG on those shooting numbers

Scoring is the most valuable skill but scorers are with terrible all around games and middling efficiency are always the most overrated players in the league. You don't win championships led by those types of players.

[dice]

animals play defense. see kevin garnett, MJ, etc.

Exactly. They also have a positive +/- rating. The only thing Kyrie is good at is scoring, he's pretty terrible at virtually everything else.

True, but scoring is BY FAR the most valuable skill a player can have.

eh...the range of offensive impact RAPM-wise is not that much greater than the range of defensive impact. it's like a 55-45 split. and scoring obviously isn't close to the only factor in a great offensive player. so arguably a great defensive player has more value than a great one-dimensional scorer

I can't off the top of my head think of a better example of a great defender w/o offensive skill than dikembe mutombo (though dikembe was a good garbageman offensively). but compare his value to some great scorer who was/is a notably poor defender and not good in other areas...the best all-time example might be Adrian dantley. one of the best pure scorers in league history. was dantley BY FAR a more valuable player than mutombo? I think that's a fairly ridiculous assertion. was he more valuable straight up? I think it could be argued either way

we're talking about a 25 year old who scored 25 PPG on 47%/40%/90%... That's pretty incredible

first of all, most guys have entered their prime by age 25. particularly in the 1 and done era. secondly, the only % that really matters is TS%. and kyrie matched his career high w/ 58% this season. good but not elite. 26 per 36 on 58% is outstanding. Adrian dantley AVERAGED 24/62% for his career. so kyrie is not on his level as a player

You win games by scoring more points than the other team

or by surrendering less points than the other team surrenders

yin meet yang

here might be 5 players in the league who could put up 25 PPG on those shooting numbers

hmmm...again, if we're talking overall scoring efficiency:

kyrie, Durant, curry, Thompson (perhaps, if not on the warriors), kawhi, LeBron, IT, kevin love (if not 3rd wheel on the cavs), harden, cp3 (if he wasn't such a great and willing passer), kemba, butler, PG, mccollum, lillard, hayward...anyone else I'm missing? AD if we're including guys who play inside the arc. I'd also argue that gallinari was a more effective scorer this past season. as was jokic

[BigTex]

'Are you still beating your wife"

This is such a loaded, unnecessary report.

I disagree. How players conduct their life off the court can influence their game. Personal habits also rub off on teammates.

Ironic that you would make such a remark the week that Lamar Odom wrote a fine piece for the Players' Tribune, too. And that is not to suggest the Irving has any Odom level issues. But doing your due diligence is expected when you're investing this much on one person, at any age in any industry.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/lamar-odom-done-in-the-dark/

[Bobalob]

'Are you still beating your wife"

This is such a loaded, unnecessary report.

I disagree. How players conduct their life off the court can influence their game. Personal habits also rub off on teammates.

Ironic that you would make such a remark the week that Lamar Odom wrote a fine piece for the Players' Tribune, too. And that is not to suggest the Irving has any Odom level issues. But doing your due diligence is expected when you're investing this much on one person, at any age in any industry.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/lamar-odom-done-in-the-dark/

I don't think you get my point. Reporting if he has issues is fair game.

But reporting that he DOESNT have issues, implies that there was a reason look into him anyway. And the adding of 'he likes to party late night' is especially low considering NBA players bc of their age and schedule pretty much ALL party late night.

[SuperDeluxe]

Very loyal player too.

[oaktownwarriors87]

animals play defense. see kevin garnett, MJ, etc.

Exactly. They also have a positive +/- rating. The only thing Kyrie is good at is scoring, he's pretty terrible at virtually everything else.

True, but scoring is BY FAR the most valuable skill a player can have. We're talking about a 25 year old who scored 25 PPG on 47%/40%/90%... That's pretty incredible. Players like Draymond Green who do the small things are only valuable when they're surrounded by great scorers. You win games by scoring more points than the other team. Players who can rebound and play solid defense are a dime a dozen. There might be 5 players in the league who could put up 25 PPG on those shooting numbers

Yep, and he can do it all himself. Best ISO scorer in the NBA.

[oaktownwarriors87]

'Are you still beating your wife"

This is such a loaded, unnecessary report.

I disagree. How players conduct their life off the court can influence their game. Personal habits also rub off on teammates.

Ironic that you would make such a remark the week that Lamar Odom wrote a fine piece for the Players' Tribune, too. And that is not to suggest the Irving has any Odom level issues. But doing your due diligence is expected when you're investing this much on one person, at any age in any industry.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/lamar-odom-done-in-the-dark/

I don't think you get my point. Reporting if he has issues is fair game.

But reporting that he DOESNT have issues, implies that there was a reason look into him anyway. And the adding of 'he likes to party late night' is especially low considering NBA players bc of their age and schedule pretty much ALL party late night.

Dan Gilbert fluff piece 100%

[dice]

Exactly. They also have a positive +/- rating. The only thing Kyrie is good at is scoring, he's pretty terrible at virtually everything else.

True, but scoring is BY FAR the most valuable skill a player can have. We're talking about a 25 year old who scored 25 PPG on 47%/40%/90%... That's pretty incredible. Players like Draymond Green who do the small things are only valuable when they're surrounded by great scorers. You win games by scoring more points than the other team. Players who can rebound and play solid defense are a dime a dozen. There might be 5 players in the league who could put up 25 PPG on those shooting numbers

Yep, and he can do it all himself. Best ISO scorer in the NBA.

maybe so. top 54 in iso attempts over last 2 seasons, ranked from best to worst points per possession:

1.08 336 curry
1.07 520 kyrie
1.05 324 isaiah (amazing given size)
1.03 628 lillard
1.01 425 KD
1.01 186 conley
1.00 402 cp3
0.98 250 KAT
0.98 183 dragic
0.97 639 derozan
0.97 784 melo
0.97 295 lowry
0.96 535 crawford
0.96 212 griffin
0.96 369 kawhi
0.95 1118 harden
0.95 191 beal
0.94 192 hood

0.94 247 schroeder
0.93 178 jam johnson
0.93 349 marc morris
0.93 381 teague
0.92 364 mccollum
0.92 190 collison
0.92 731 lebron (should be in kyrie's hands at ends of quarters?)
0.91 434 barnes
0.91 189 lopez
0.91 311 booker
0.91 315 okafor
0.90 270 rivers
0.90 311 gallinari
0.89 404 butler
0.88 570 PG
0.87 772 westbrook
0.87 212 t harris
0.86 284 hayward

0.86 278 millsap
0.85 270 rose
0.85 166 payton
0.83 225 bledsoe
0.82 315 waiters (why is this guy allowed to go iso so much?)
0.81 268 clarkson
0.80 442 giannis
0.80 315 AD
0.80 172 matthews
0.80 376 wiggins
0.79 318 wade (time to hand over the keys, D)
0.79 527 wall
0.79 327 randolph
0.76 406 randle
0.74 240 kemba
0.73 278 cousins
0.73 261 gay
0.72 205 j parker