Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
The Boston Celtics are “monitoring” the Kyrie Irving situation but it’s “unclear how aggressive” the team’s potential pursuit will be, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Irving requested a trade earlier this offseason, setting off a frenzy of interest around the league. Wojnarowski reported Friday that approximately 20 teams have called the Cleveland Cavaliers about the All-Star point guard, but not nearly that many clubs have extended legitimate offers. The San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks and Miami Heat were all on Wojnarowski’s list of teams that have already given Cleveland real proposals.
Normally, I prefer quoting the original material–I mean, do you really want to read a post about an article about an article from somewhere else? Is this what you came here for (if so, you can die happy now, because that’s exactly what this is).
However, in this instance, Jay’s use of quotes says everything about the Celtics’ interest in Kyrie.
And that’s pretty much the big story from Friday in Celticsland.
These are the times that try men’s souls. The winter blogger and the regular season writer will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his blog; but he that stands it now deserves the likes and RT’s of man and woman.
This is when a blogger really earns his pay! When the top article and the Page 2 item are about, respectively, a guy who we all hope never becomes a Celtic and a guy who used to be a Celtic. This is getting that last bit of peanut butter out of the bottom of the jar, so you don’t have to go to the store to finish making your sandwich.
Anyway, about this Kyrie fellow:
Kyrie Irving has a shoe deal and awhile back he had a commercial where he pretended to be an old guy.
That’s it.
Yet, because of this, people think he is an Important Basketball Player and a Potential Franchise Centerpiece. When pressed for reasons, ‘intangibles’ are quickly cited. They have to be. There is no tangible metric that says Kyrie is as valuable as he thinks he is.
He is a guy who scores without playing defense, who plays point guard without facilitating the rest of the offense, and who, on a court with nine other guys, one of them frequently LeBron James, acts like he’s still an eight year old playing by himself under a street light, counting down the seconds of an imaginary game before hitting the winning shot and heading home for supper.
He’s better than Monta Ellis, Brandon Jennings and OJ Mayo at putting the ball in the hoop, but apart from that, how different are those guys?
How much of Kyrie’s reputation is based solely on the fact that people have heard of him?
Speaking of Brandon Jennings. Remember this?
You may have heard that Jennings took a gig in China, after playing for four different NBA teams in 14 months. Well, Pierce had a bit to say about that.
Brandon Jennings listened to @paulpierce34. pic.twitter.com/L2f7NgCcQF
— Jordan Heck (@JordanHeckFF) July 28, 2017
That's wat happens when talk down on the Truth
— Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) July 28, 2017
And, in classic Pierce fashion, there’s a typo in his tweet.
That’s our guy.
Page 2: Where Jared Sullinger’s trying to get his head right, and get back into the NBA
I don’t want to get too specific, but when you say a mental breakdown, was that an actual mental breakdown or was it your mindset?
I was in tears! I was in tears, I was crying. Because I just didn’t know what I could do to help myself to be a better basketball player, for me to be healthy. And over time, I just got better and better, and I’ve been reading books and just trying to figure out who I am as a person. And the more I figure out who I am as a person, the better off my basketball game goes, the better off as a person I am.
On the one hand, this is not the first time we’ve heard Jared Sullinger talk about finally ‘getting it’. On the other hand, even if all this work doesn’t get him back into the NBA, it could at least benefit him in the rest of his life, which, no matter how good you are at basketball, is most of it.
I’d like to see Sully get things sorted out. You’re looking at a guy with a couple strikes against him, even if he’s made several million dollars already. He’s going to struggle with his weight all his life–and it’s not going to get any easier. If you’re six and a half feet tall and overweight, life is going to get really uncomfortable really quick. Joints just aren’t up to those kind of stresses, and Sully’s already had foot and back problems. At the same time, at least up to this point, things have been pretty easy for Sully. Your mid 20s is not an ideal time to start working on self-discipline. I hope it works out for him in life, even if it doesn’t on the court.
Finally, we go live to Cleveland
“Colleagues from South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue were in attendance squirting water all over some kind of sporty motor some 50 or so meters down a banking,” continues the Facebook post. “As we are an inquisitive bunch we found the driver and were amazed to see he only had minor cuts and bruises!” The lucky driver told police, “I’ve only just got it, picked it up an hour ago.”
Well, Cavs fans will always have 2016, right?
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