Kyrie Irving: we already named a city after him!

[KillerLeft]

Or an even worse scenario is the one KL is bringing up, Kyrie gets the money and then stops trying.

That, to me, is a matter of when, not if. We have 6 straight years of evidence, each one worse than the previous one, until this season, a contract year. 

I DO think he'll ball out down the stretch this season. There's very little doubt in my mind that this will energize the team, short-term. People are going to pay attention to them again for a while, that's for sure. It's probably going to help Luka's MVP campaign, for those who care, just out of the sheer increase in attention the team gets. 

I don't think the season will be as successful as last year, ultimately, because these trade deadline deals usually don't get until the following season. But, he's talented enough to make me say it's much more possible they get deep into the playoffs than it was yesterday. 

However, if there's a single thought about Irving being "misunderstood" and possibly not causing problems here (or anywhere else) during his next deal, that's just willful ignorance. I took a deep dive on this guy a couple of times over the past year or so, and he has been THE reason all of those situations blew up. Trust me when I say that the happiest team in the NBA tonight is the Brooklyn Nets. As long as KD is willing to give it all another try (not a given, I suppose) their hellish nightmare might finally be over. 

I think a perfect way to play this, from here, might be to ride the "contract year" stretch run wave from Irving and then sign-and-trade him. You'll take an asset loss, for sure, but the franchise can keep flowing FORWARD that way. 

But, I think @"F Gump" has the right of it. I said this the other day, actually, and stand by it: They decided they were ready to bite the bullet and pay the dude BEFORE making this offer, and probably have some type of assurance, at least a superficial, flimsy one, that he's amenable to signing. I think, as Gump has said, that they see him as Luka's costar and are "all in" on him. That certainly seems to be plan A. 

I don't imagine it lasts very long. But, he IS talented.