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Making the Case for Kyrie

Over the past five months, a roller coaster would be kind way to describe the relationship between the Boston Celtics and its fans. In particular, Kyrie and the fans. It started with a proclamation in front of season-ticket holders where he said he was planning on re-signing with the Celtics, "If we would have him."

Between that moment and now, fans have endured Passive-Aggressive Kyrie, Aggressive Kyrie, Pissed-Off Kyrie, Apologetic Kyrie, Incredible Kyrie, Uncle Drew Kyrie, Reflective Kyrie. It’s like an American Girl Doll collection. Frankly, it hasn’t been all that fun considering the expectations that were laid at the feet of this super-team in the summer.

After all the rants, pointed fingers, and team meetings, I am here to make my case for Kyrie and why Celtics fans should want him to re-sign with Boston this summer.

Kyrie turns 27 next Saturday. This is the prime time for NBA stars to settle into themselves and figure out how to be a member of a team and lead. I think we are starting to see that in Kyrie these past few weeks. It feels as if he has stepped back a bit and taken stock of his role in the mess that was the first 75% of this season. I would even argue that it means a lot that Kyrie is beginning to do press conferences without a hat on. It always felt like he was hiding and defensive with his hat on, constantly looking down at the floor hiding his face.

The next two months will begin to bare out if Kyrie is really ready to grow up and take the blame when things go badly. I think he’s ready.

Also, this season has been one of the best of Kyrie’s career. His shooting spits are 54/41/87 and his eFG% is at 57%, right where he was last year (the best of his career).

The biggest improvement in his game are in setting up his teammates. His assists are way up. He’s averaging 7.1 APG this year. He’s never averaged more than 6.1 in a season before. This month, in 7 games, Kyrie is averaging 9.4 APG. If you really love small sample sizes, Kyrie’s last three games have seen him collect 11. 12, and 9 assists, respectively.

Defensively, Kyrie is still a liability, but recently he seems to be up to stuff a bit more on that side of the floor. He’s drawing charges (leads the team) and battling for rebounds, even joking that LeBron and Tristan Thompson wouldn’t let him rebound in Cleveland, but he was always willing to do it. He made a few big plays against the Hawks, battling for loose balls and getting his hands on rebounds to keep them alive (there should have been no need for any big plays at the end of that game… but that’s a different story).

We’ve been down this road before with players in the NBA who have a hard time settling into their celebrity. Kyrie felt the bright lights of three straight NBA Finals in Cleveland, left unceremoniously, and then was forced to sit and watch his new team come within one half of making it to the NBA Finals. That cannot be easy, considering he watched LeBron and the Cavs go to the Finals.

The final piece of this puzzle, which has come up on my podcast, is if Kyrie can play within a system. Is Kyrie going to let Brad Stevens be the coach? It seems as if this latest stretch of basketball is beginning to show that Kyrie might be willing to play point guard while allowing Stevens to be the coach.

Brad Stevens has had to handle some difficult personalities in his time with the Celtics. As a new coach he was dealing with guys like Jordan Crawford and a grumpy (yet overpaid…) Gerald Wallace. Isiah Thomas openly questioned Stevens in post-game pressers. Kyrie is a different animal because of his incredible talent and mercurial personality. But it feels as if they might have found a common ground.

It’s important to remember that Kyrie is still figuring all this out. He was a #1 pick on a terrible, terrible team. Then LeBron showed up and put a big fat shadow on Kyrie, allowing him to play, hit big shots, and win a championship.

As the Celtics head into the business end of the season. Kyrie seems to be playing the best ball of the season, and maybe of his career.

The case is getting stronger and stronger that Kyrie should be on this team beyond this summer.

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